Japanese coach issues apology

Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii apologized for his side’s 2-1 loss against the Philippine national men’s football team in the first leg of the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup last Friday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

Ishii, who was appointed as the War Elephants’ mentor in 2023, admitted he never knew this was the first time in 52 years that they were beaten by the Philippines in any football match.

“I must apologize for the match result in this game. I don’t know the record that we’ve never beaten them before in this,” Ishii said.

“We have to review, analyze, fix it, and improve it in the second game we will play in our home against the Philippines.”

The second leg of the semifinals will be on Monday at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.

The last time the War Elephants, the defending champions of the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, missed the finals was in the 2018 edition of the competition. Despite forcing a 2-2 draw against Malaysia, they failed to advance due to the away goals rule.

Now, the Thais must win by at least two goals in the second leg to win on aggregate to advance to the final on 2 January.

Goalkeeper Korrakot Pipatnadda said they vow to do better for the second leg to advance to the final.

“We are sorry for the result of the match, but we are ready to unite to come back to our home. Everybody is sorry for the result, but we are moving forward to the next game,” Korrakot said.

We still have an important game in our home. Everyone is still fully confident about playing at home.”