Chanathip speaks out after being played roughly by Iraqi players

(Dan Tri) - Midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin publicly criticized the behavior of the Iraqi players, and the Thai football star also revealed his health status to fans.

In the King's Cup final on the evening of September 7, the host team Thailand could not defend the championship at home after losing to Iraq with a score of 0-1. However, the notable point of the match was not the only goal of Mohanad Ali but the situation where this player had an ugly action with midfielder Chanathip of the Thai side.

In the 90+4 minute, Chanathip tried to dribble past Ali but was deliberately kicked in the leg by an Iraqi player, causing the "Thai Messi" to lie on the ground in pain. The foul forced Chanathip to leave the field on a stretcher, while Ali also received a straight red card and left the field after taking down his opponent.

Chanathip apologizes to Thai fans for not being able to win the King's Cup (Photo: FA Thailand).

The Thai team failed to defend their King's Cup title at home. Not only did they lose the title, they are also at risk of falling down the FIFA rankings. With this disappointing result, the future of coach Masatada Ishii is more uncertain than ever and he is facing the risk of being fired.

When the match ended, Chanathip was able to walk normally and went to the stands to thank the fans. However, the brutal nature of the foul still made many Thai football fans feel extremely worried about Chanathip's situation.

As soon as the injury results were available, the 31-year-old star of "War Elephants" immediately informed fans.

“In my career, I have never been fouled to such an extent. After that incident, many of my teammates sent me messages of support and encouragement. Luckily, it was just a muscle injury, but I will have to go for a more thorough check-up. At that time, I was very angry, but maybe he (Mohanad Ali) also felt regretful.

He hasn't even apologized yet. This shouldn't happen in a football match, especially when their team is in the lead and we didn't play rough. I really don't understand why this happened," Chanathip said after the match.

For his part, the captain of the Thai team also apologized to the fans for the loss: “I apologize to the fans because we could not defend the title. I hope everyone will continue to support and encourage us. Encouragement is very important.

On behalf of the young players and the coaching staff, I would like to apologize. We will try to improve even more, from the coach to the young players. The whole team fought with all their might, but there are still small mistakes that need to be fixed," Chanathip said.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chanathip-len-tieng-sau-khi-bi-cau-thu-iraq-choi-tho-bao-20250908091157482.htm