As the TPL disappears off the radar again, the spotlight turns to the national team. Winnie Schaefer’s men are busy preparing for their first two group stage World Cup Qualifiers against Australia and Oman, and on Wednesday night at the Rajamangala Stadium the national team played out a 0-0 draw with regional rivals Singapore. Schaefer had stated that he was intending to use the match to look at fringe players and duly rested some first-teamers. Therefore, Australia coach Holger Osieck, watching from the stands, won’t take away much in the way of useful information as the Thai starting XI in Brisbane will look quite different to that which took the field on Wednesday night.
Former Thai Port striker Sarayoot Chaikamdee – now at Bangkok Glass – barely featured in the national team set up during Bryan Robson’s reign but has been brought back in from the cold since Schaefer took over. Unfortunately ‘Joe 5 Yards’ failed to make the most of several chances which came his way against Singapore and is unlikely to start against Australia.
Before the match, the coach said he wasn’t concerned about the result and he seemed fairly satisfied afterwards saying ''We need to improve our set-piece play. But overall many things improved.” Despite apparently not caring about friendly results, he will surely be pleased that his new charges are unbeaten in five matches since he took over. Still, the challenge awaiting Thailand next Friday will be a world away from Wednesday's gentle kick-about: Australia, away, in front of up to 50,000 fans. A full preview will be posted next week.

Port Progress
In the only meaningful action of the week, Thai Port drew 0-0 in the second leg of their Toyota League Cup quarter final against Chiang Rai United. The result was enough for them to go through on away goals as the first leg finished 1-1. A poor match wasn’t done any favours when the heavens opened in the second half, but Port will just be relieved to make it through to the semi-finals. They'll be even more relieved that their opponents in the final four will be Pattalung of the Regional League South. They have done remarkably well to make it this far, but will surely struggle to overcome a TPL club over two legs. If Port can make it to the final it will be their third time in three seasons after lifting the FA Cup in 2009 and the League Cup last year, no small feat considering the constant upheavals that seem to beset the club.