Thailand boss Milovan Rajevac said he is satisfied after the War Elephants have been drawn into Group A along with hosts the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India and Bahrain in the group stage of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup to be kicked off in January.
The 64-year-old head coach remarked: “I am satisfied after the draw. All three teams are better ranked, but we have confidence and we’re ready to cope with any team.”
All three teams in Group A have a better FIFA Ranking than Thailand (122). The United Arab Emirates are ranked 81, India are placed 97 and Bahrain occupy the 116th spot. Rajevac went on to dismiss the rankings and stated that he believes that Thailand will manage to advance to the knockout stage.
“I believe we can progress to the next round. We’ll study our opponents carefully, but we’ll have our style of play by that time, so everything will depend on ourselves.”
UAE and Bahrain will meet in the opening game of the tournament on 5 January 2019. Thailand will take on India in their opener on the very next day at the Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Thailand have performed well in recent times with a close 2-1 loss to Australia in a World Cup qualifier one among their eye-catching results.
