Defending champions Thailand will face the Philippines in the semi-finals of the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024.
The semi-finals will be played on a home-and-away basis with Thailand playing away on Dec 27 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila before returning home for the second leg at Rajamangala National Stadium three days later.
Vietnam face Singapore in the other semi-finals. Singapore will host the first leg on Dec 26 and Vietnam will play a home game on Dec 29.
The winners from the two semi-finals will face off in the two-leg final on Jan 2 and 5.
Philippines booked their last-four berth after they edged 10-man Indonesia 1-0 on Saturday to finish second in Group B while Vietnam hammered Myanmar 5-0 to top the group.
Thailand finished on top of Group A, winning all four matches against Timor Leste, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.
After learning that Thailand will face the Philippines away in the first game of the semi-finals, Japanese coach Masatada Ishii has switched the training venue to Bangkok Thonburi University, which has an artificial turf, the same as the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Meanwhile veteran midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin expressed his confidence that Thailand could defend their title.
"This team have a mix of new and veteran players and there are things that they need to improve because we concede goals too easily. The team will have some time off before the semi-finals and I'm confident we will be able to retain the title," said Chanathip, who won the Asean Championship three times (2014, 2016 and 2020).
The BG Pathum United midfielder also added that having Benjamin Davis, Supachok Sarachat and Ekanit Panya in the team will be key to Thailand's success.
"Of course having Benjamin, Ekanit and Supachok for the semi-finals will be very important to our title defence. They all are great players with huge talent."
The semi-finals will be played on a home-and-away basis with Thailand playing away on Dec 27 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila before returning home for the second leg at Rajamangala National Stadium three days later.
Vietnam face Singapore in the other semi-finals. Singapore will host the first leg on Dec 26 and Vietnam will play a home game on Dec 29.
The winners from the two semi-finals will face off in the two-leg final on Jan 2 and 5.
Philippines booked their last-four berth after they edged 10-man Indonesia 1-0 on Saturday to finish second in Group B while Vietnam hammered Myanmar 5-0 to top the group.
Thailand finished on top of Group A, winning all four matches against Timor Leste, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.
After learning that Thailand will face the Philippines away in the first game of the semi-finals, Japanese coach Masatada Ishii has switched the training venue to Bangkok Thonburi University, which has an artificial turf, the same as the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Meanwhile veteran midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin expressed his confidence that Thailand could defend their title.
"This team have a mix of new and veteran players and there are things that they need to improve because we concede goals too easily. The team will have some time off before the semi-finals and I'm confident we will be able to retain the title," said Chanathip, who won the Asean Championship three times (2014, 2016 and 2020).
The BG Pathum United midfielder also added that having Benjamin Davis, Supachok Sarachat and Ekanit Panya in the team will be key to Thailand's success.
"Of course having Benjamin, Ekanit and Supachok for the semi-finals will be very important to our title defence. They all are great players with huge talent."
