What's keeping Thailand out of the World Cup?
After half a century of meandering, there are hopes Thai football has finally found an infrastructure to develop internationally competitive players
South Africa's captain Teko Modise fights for the ball with Varonchai Narongchai of Thailand during their international friendly football match at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit last month.
Long a powerhouse of Southeast Asian football, Thailand has for years failed to see that success translate onto the world circuit. Its greatest success was at the Asian Cup in 1972 and to date the squad has never qualified to play in the FIFA World Cup. For a football mad country of nearly 70 million people, that is almost inexcusable.
But excuses have constantly been made by supporters and the Thai Football Association. Defenses like "we’re too small" or "we're not strong enough" have been regurgitated time and again. But for long time followers of Thai football the excuses just didn’t add up. Countries like South Korea and Japan, which share similar ethnicity, gradually built up their teams until they were regularly competing for the top prizes at the top tournaments. So what's the problem?
Perhaps the biggest thing holding back Thai football over the years was the lack of a professional infrastructure on a club level to both develop youth players and encourage competition among professionals. For years semi professional leagues pitted the likes of the Thai Police against the Thai Army.
“This is all changing now,” says Apirak Kosoyodhin, chairman of Thai Premier League team Bangkok United.
“It is true, the structure of the league has become completely professional,” adds club director Phichet Rerkpreecha.
A little help from the English
On the national level Thailand also seems to have drawn the best and brightest from the English game.
Regrettably for some, the two most recent Thai national team managers played for Everton and Manchester Untied, but nevertheless both Peter Reid and Bryan Robson are among the game’s biggest legends. Current Thailand national coach and former England player Robson has already come out to say that if he could “win the Asia Cup and qualify for the World Cup with Thailand [he’ll] see that as another major achievement in [his] career.”
He’ll have a tough job though as he inherits a role Reid did well at, losing just two games out of 13 during his tenure in Thailand. While Thailand may have failed to qualify for the World Cup in their stead, one feels that finally after half a century of meandering, Thai football has finally found an infrastructure to develop players who can compete on an international level. Foreign football clubs certainly agree, with major world powers like Arsenal, Everton and Manchester City developing club associations and partnerships with the hopes of molding local players into world class athletes.
This potential has been picked up on by companies hoping to make a profit as well. Investment company London Nominees has started a company called "The Football Fund," based in Bangkok and listed overseas, to invest in local players and teams in the hopes of making money once the market develops.
“There is a lot of potential in the region in terms of skill and with the excellent advisers that we have on board, people who have been in the football industry for decades, we hope to capitalize on that potential,” say company representatives.
The arrival of companies like London Nominees is indeed another clear indicator that Thai football is developing. But while that might be well and good, as the football mad nation flocks to screens to catch all the FIFA World Cup action this month, Thailand’s continued omission from the world's most popular sporting event has hardcore Thai supporters wondering when the "what if boys" will become the right-now men.
