Thailand will go up against a "totally different" Philippines side in the first leg of their Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 semi-final in Manila on Friday night.
The War Elephants are the defending champions and made it to the last-four stage of the regional championship after victories over Timor Leste, Malaysia and Cambodia helped them finish at the top of Group A.
The Philippines sprang a big surprise by taking second spot behind Vietnam in Group B.
Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii told a pre-match press conference on Thursday in Manila that his men would have to adjust their game to suit the synthetic grass pitch at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
"We are faced with a situation in which we have to play on a pitch with artificial grass and this means that every player has to adjust himself to the surface," said the Japanese tactician.
"But in football you are expected to adjust to such situations and be ready for all sorts of conditions at different match venues.
"We have had the opportunity to play on an artificial grass pitch back home for a couple of days and have had two days of training opportunity at the match venue.
"I believe that this will help the players get ready for this new challenge."
Ishii added: "We have seen the tapes of the match between the Philippines and Indonesia and there is no need to talk much about it.
"From what we have seen, I can say that the Philippines now play a different brand of football.
"They are a totally different team from the one we played a few months ago. Their offence and defence have both improved a great deal.
"But we have trained on the artificial pitch at Rizal Memorial Stadium and I don't think there is a need to make any drastic changes to our game plan for the match."
The two sides clashed in the King's Cup first round in Songkhla in October when the War Elephants dominated the Philippines 3-1.
Thai left wing back Thitathorn Auksornsri said: "We have been preparing the team for quite some time and everyone is now ready for the match.
"I played at this stadium during the 2019 SEA Games, but that was a long time ago. We need to adjust many things for this venue."
The match will kick off at 8pm (Thai time) on Saturday and will be televised live by Thai Rath TV (32), AIS Play, TrueSport 2 (667) and the BG Sports Channel on YouTube.
The War Elephants are the defending champions and made it to the last-four stage of the regional championship after victories over Timor Leste, Malaysia and Cambodia helped them finish at the top of Group A.
The Philippines sprang a big surprise by taking second spot behind Vietnam in Group B.
Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii told a pre-match press conference on Thursday in Manila that his men would have to adjust their game to suit the synthetic grass pitch at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
"We are faced with a situation in which we have to play on a pitch with artificial grass and this means that every player has to adjust himself to the surface," said the Japanese tactician.
"But in football you are expected to adjust to such situations and be ready for all sorts of conditions at different match venues.
"We have had the opportunity to play on an artificial grass pitch back home for a couple of days and have had two days of training opportunity at the match venue.
"I believe that this will help the players get ready for this new challenge."
Ishii added: "We have seen the tapes of the match between the Philippines and Indonesia and there is no need to talk much about it.
"From what we have seen, I can say that the Philippines now play a different brand of football.
"They are a totally different team from the one we played a few months ago. Their offence and defence have both improved a great deal.
"But we have trained on the artificial pitch at Rizal Memorial Stadium and I don't think there is a need to make any drastic changes to our game plan for the match."
The two sides clashed in the King's Cup first round in Songkhla in October when the War Elephants dominated the Philippines 3-1.
Thai left wing back Thitathorn Auksornsri said: "We have been preparing the team for quite some time and everyone is now ready for the match.
"I played at this stadium during the 2019 SEA Games, but that was a long time ago. We need to adjust many things for this venue."
The match will kick off at 8pm (Thai time) on Saturday and will be televised live by Thai Rath TV (32), AIS Play, TrueSport 2 (667) and the BG Sports Channel on YouTube.
