Winfried Schaefer to leave Thailand post: reports
Trio of key defeats to prove costly for German former Cameroon coach
Bangkok: German Winfried Schaefer is on his way out as Thailand’s head coach after a trio of key defeats, local media reported on Saturday.
The 63-year-old, who has also coached Cameroon, has failed to arrest a recent dip in form since Thailand lost to Singapore in Southeast Asia’s Suzuki Cup final in December.
Thailand also lost their opening two matches in their qualifying campaign for the Asian Football Confederation’s Asian Cup to Kuwait and Lebanon in February and March.
“We should not use the word ‘sack’ — we have parted company amicably,” Thailand Football Association (FAT) chief Worawi Makudi was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post.
“It is normal in football that you have both success and failure.”
Former national captain Kiatisak “Zico” Senamuang would take charge of the team until a permanent successor is named, the Nation newspaper said.
“At the moment, we’re thinking about putting Kiatisak in charge of the team temporarily because he knows both the Thai Premier League and League One players well,” Worawi said.
“He’ll coach the side for the warm-up with China [on June 15] as well as a proposed friendly with Myanmar.
“For the Asian Cup qualifiers, we have to wait until after the [FAT presidential] election before we decide who to bring in for the post. We are not short of choices as we believe we have many people who would be able to do the job.”
The top two teams from the group will qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia, with bottom side Thailand facing a daunting trip to Iran to take on the group leaders in their third fixture in October.
