Before Curacao take on Vietnam in the final of the 2019 King’s Cup, hosts Thailand will battle it out against India in the third-place play-off on June 8 to determine the bronze-medallists at the 47th edition of the tournament.
Placed 101st and 114th respectively in the FIFA rankings, India and Thailand find themselves squaring off against each other sooner than expected, their recent encounter being just five months ago at the 2019 Asian Cup in January this year.
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Revenge will be on the cards when the two teams walk onto the field this Saturday afternoon, with Thailand being wary of the unprecedented drubbing they received last time around with India beating them 4-1 in their Asian Cup opener at Abu Dhabi. India though cannot afford to be complacent at all, their fabulous performance against Thailand at the Asian Cup meant that their players were pushed to record their highest ever work-rate figures.
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India are not the team they were a few months ago, with newly appointed head-coach Igor Stimac leading the squad and notable debutants starting the previous game against Curacao, the vision of a more attacking brand of football is doing the rounds. A lot, however, was left to be desired of India’s performance against Curacao. While they were completely outplayed in the first half, Stimac’s tactical changes in the second half ensured that the team could restrict Curacao’s prowess and close the game at 3-1.
Thailand would be rearing to salvage some pride at home, after conceding a late goal against Vietnam in the previous fixture. In what was, arguably, a controversial game, Thailand could not help but finish second best against their higher-ranked opponents. The narrow final minute defeat is expected to spur the team on as they seek retribution against India.
With the hopes of winning silverware at the tournament having faded, both teams will be fully aware that a positive result would give a much-needed boost to their depleted rankings ahead of the World Cup qualifiers that commences in a few months time. India’s ‘blue tigers’ with their young and lively squad will not go down without a fight and will threaten to derail the Thai war elephants’ ambitions of closing their King’s Cup campaign with a win.
With both teams having a point to prove in the weekend’s clash, it will be exciting to see who claims the bragging rights when the dust settles at the Buriram Stadium on Saturday.
