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Sports
Notes - Thailand's New Coach Carlos Carvalho and Manager
Thavatchai Sajakul Lose First 3 Games
James Loving - National Radio Text Service Thailand Coach Carlos Carvalho Starts With Three Losses & Recover - FIFA TOP 10 - Astrid Scipio To Coach Laos Women's National Squad - FIFA's Best Player - Cambodian Boxing THAILAND'S NEW TEAM CARVALHO & SAJAKUL OFF TO A SLOW START After the FAT's (Football Association of Thailand) firing of coach Peter Withe Thailand's new team of coach Carlos Roberto Carvalho and manager Thavatchai Sajakul are off to a slow start. The coaching change was supposedly made to change the squads losing ways although Thailand achieved success that they never had in the past by reaching the World Cup Qualifying 2nd round under Withe. It was expressed that since Carvalho is Brazilian that he would employ Brazil's style of football into the Thai game. Sajakul was Thailand's manager when Withe was hired. The two enjoyed success with a fourth-place finish in the 1998 Asian Games including a victory over South Korea. He left the squad to become a member of parliament prior to the Thai's victory over Arsenal. In the past he is credited with assembling a Thailand Dream Team and the hope is to accomplish that feat again. Sajakul also known as "The Big Hoy" continues his duties as a member of parliament as well as being an advisor to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He is also a candidate to become the governor of Bangkok and is experienced as an actor on television. Carvalho's first test was in the first leg of the Asian Cup Qualifiers. Thailand lost all three of their matches, Hong Kong 1-2, Uzbekistan 0-3 and Tajikistan 0-1. It was obvious that with one goal for and six against the Thai's were lacking something. The members of the media that were for Carvalho when he arrived were now after his head. It was reported that the squad wasn't happy with Carvalho's coaching style. It was also reported that his job was on the line. It was a feeling he had experienced before as he previously coached the side in 1991 and is known as the last Thai coach that did not win the Sea Games soccer gold medal. Since that time Thailand has won five consecutive Sea Games soccer titles. When the Thai's returned to Bangkok to host the 2nd leg they had two things going for them, their fans and the heat. The first leg was played in the cold weather conditions of Uzbekistan. With Uzbekistan and Tajikistan being cold weather areas Thai officials felt they had the advantage playing in the scorching heat of Bangkok. Hong Kong is a weak side although they had already defeated the Thai's. All of those factors had to work for Thailand. They had to win every match to go through. Prior to the second leg a sponsor offered the squad an incentive…. MONEY. Three hundred thousand baht was offered for each point and 50,000 baht for each goal. As they say, MONEY TALKS and bullshit walks. The Thais produced albeit for national pride or for money the results were about to come in. In their opening game the Thais got their revenge defeating Hong Kong 4-0. After the contest coach Carvalho looked drained and weary despite experiencing his first win on his second time around with the squad from the land of smiles :). Carvalho's face wasn't displaying the slogan the Thai's love to cherish. Sajakul was vibrant. He pointed out that the side made many mistakes but felt confident that they could win all off their matches on their home pitch. Thailand then defeated Tajikistan 1-0 and Uzbekistan 4-1. Do the math… the second leg money incentive paid off. Three wins = nine points x 300,000 baht = 2,700,000 baht. Nine goals x 50,000 = 450,000 baht. That equates to 450,000 + 2,700,000 baht = 3,150,000 baht or $80,769 USD. Uzbekistan was at the top of the table and undefeated when they entered the match. They rested several of their key players. The Uzbek's played sloppily, handling the ball poorly and made numerous defensive mistakes. To put it bluntly…. they looked terrible. At the press conference Carvalho was more animated but remained cool under fire. He said the squads success was attributed to them being more focused. Their nine goals for and one against proved his statement positive and…. It appears the money incentive helped.
Thailand gained strength and confidence with each match. Their fluidity improved and they attacked more. Though Uzbekistan didn't field their top side Thailand played at their best. They say love is lovelier the second time around but will it be for Carvalho? After only three matches and an 0-3 record he felt the FAT HEAT. After six matches and a 3-3 record the heat was turned down. Carvalho was brought in to take the Thai's to the World Cup finals. The question is…. will he make it or will he be fried deep in the FAT?. FIFA MENS TOP 10: Rank - Team - Rating 1. Brazil 852 2. France 826 3. Spain 785 4. Argentina 750 5. Mexico 742 6. Netherlands 740 7. Turkey 739 8. England 738 9. Germany 736 10 Czech Republic 735 ASTRID SCIPIO NAMED LAOS WOMEN'S NATION TEAM COACH Astrid Scipio a sports consultant at the Asian Sports Academy was named the Laos women's national team coach. At present there is no squad so Scipio has to start from scratch by recruiting players aged 16-24 from their villages. The task is overwhelming. "Girls have never been out of their village," she said. The Dutch native's plan is to conduct a Laos Football Federation Tournament in Vientiane involving 10 teams December 19-20-21. She will evaluate the talent and select the best players for the national squad. The hope is to prepare them for the next Sea Games competition. FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2003: HAMM, LJUNGBERG OR PRINZ? - HENRY, RONALDO OR ZIDANE? The identities of the FIFA World Player of the Year and FIFA Women's World Player of the Year are slowly but surely being revealed. The votes have now been cast and two trios of star players have emerged from the crowd. Listed here in alphabetical order, the women's shortlist features Mia Hamm (USA), Hanna Ljungberg (Sweden) and Birgit Prinz (Germany), while the three men left in the running are Thierry Henry (France), Ronaldo (Brazil) and Zinedine Zidane (France). Who will prevail? All will be revealed at the FIFA World Player Gala in Basle, Switzerland, on 15 December. The ceremony, to be broadcast around the globe, will start at 15.00h. Having topped the bill in 2001 and 2002, Mia Hamm will be looking to complete a hat trick of awards. Hanna Ljungberg, meanwhile, figures in the final three for the first time. Runner-up last year and such an integral part of the German team crowned world champions just a few weeks ago, Birgit Prinz will also be hoping to claim the top individual accolade this time round. Looking to the men's award, Thierry Henry will be making his debut appearance on the podium showcasing the three top players in the world, quite a contrast to his fellow Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, such a familiar face at this stage of proceedings having already been named FIFA World Player of the Year in both 1998 and 2000. Les Bleus' playmaker will be hoping to emulate his club colleague Ronaldo, the only player to have won the award on three separate occasions (1996, 1997, 2002). The Brazilian striker, meanwhile, will have his sights set on building upon that impressive record... Twelve months ago, Ronaldo (387 points) held sway over Oliver Kahn (Germany, 171 points) and Zidane (148 points), while Mia Hamm (161 points) took the women's award ahead of Prinz (96) and Sun Wen (China, 58). 100 coaches of women's national teams have cast their vote for the FIFA Women's Player of the Year 2003, while 142 coaches of men's national teams have voted in the men's category. Each voting slip allowed coaches to name their three top players, with a first-place nomination worth five points, and positions two and three rewarded with three points and one point respectively. Four more prestigious awards will also be presented at FIFA's gala occasion: the FIFA Presidential Award, the FIFA Fair Play Award, the Top Team of the Year according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, as well as the Best Mover of the Year in the same classification. BOXING IN CAMBODIA CTN (Cambodian Television Network) will present kickboxing fights at their Russei Keo District site. The events will be televised over their network 3pm on Saturdays. CTN is the third Cambodian television outlet to provide boxing telecasts. TV 3 presents fights on Saturday afternoon and TV 5 on Sunday. The fights take place on their studio lots. The prospects are that boxers will benefit buy receiving higher salaries due to the increased competition and their services will be needed. At present the top purse for a match is $50 USD. © Copyright: National Radio. Any use of these materials, whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized in writing by National Radio. Contact: nationalradio@yahoo.com
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