Although their 2-1 defeat away to Malaysia in Group G of World Cup qualifiers caused them to slip to second place in the standings, Thailand head coach Akira Nishino is adamant that their qualification chances are still in their own hands.
J1 League star Chanathip Songkrasin opened the scoring for the visitors at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium as early as the seventh minute, but the favourites would end up being overwhelmed by Harimau Malaya, through goals by Brendan Gan (26') and Mohamadou Sumareh (57').
Speaking in the post-match press conference, the former World Cup head coach admitted that his charges did not show determination in the match, and was affected by the quality of the pitch.