Thailand sack Milovan Rajevac after heavy defeat against India

The decision comes right after the War Elephants' first game in the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

The Football Association Thailand has taken the stern decision to sack head coach Milovan Rajevac hours after the country's thumping 1-4 defeat against India in their AFC Asian Cup opener. Assistant coach Sirisak Yodyardthai will take over as the head coach on a temporary basis for the rest of the tournament.

Rajevac came to the UAE under considerable pressure to guide the Thailand side to greater heights after their disappointing AFF Suzuki Cup campaign, where the War Elephants lost out against Malaysia in the semi-finals.

Hence the Serbian's future as head coach of the team depended largely on their performance at Asia's premier football tournament. But, the Thais had the worst possible start to their AFC Asian Cup campaign as they suffered a disappointing loss against India. It was enough for the association to terminate the contract of head coach Rajevac.

The Serbian tactician took charge of the War Elephants in 2017, with the experience of managing top national teams across the globe. Rajevac had stints with teams like Ghana, Qatar and Algeria before taking charge of Thailand. The Serbian almost managed to take Ghana through to the semis in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

However, when the five-time AFF Suzuki Cup champions lost their semi-final clash against Malaysia, the tactician was criticized widely by fans in the country. Most of them wanted their former player and coach Kiatisuk Senamuang to come back and guide the War Elephants going into the Asian Cup.

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"I believe that, this is not the way we, not just FA Thailand, but all Thai people, supporting this national Team want to play," POL. GEN Somyot Poompanmuong, FA Thailand President, announced.

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"In this regard, I would like to announce the termination of the contract of the head coach of the Thai national team Milovan Rajevac and also announce the appointment of Sirisak Yodyardthai to perform the duties, with the team with Choketawee Promrat as the assistant coach to prepare the team for the next match in the AFC Asian Cup."

Now, it will interesting to see how the new manager manages to cope with the pressure. With arguably tougher fixtures coming up against the UAE and Bahrain, Thailand are definitely in a spot of bother.