Thai goalkeeper Sukanya Chor Charoenying will never forget her World Cup debut five years ago – a record 13-0 defeat to the USA.
FIFA will meet in Bangkok on Friday to name the hosts of the 2027 Women’s World Cup – reviving painful memories for Sukanya and captain Kanjana Sungngoen, who turned the nightmare of 2019 into inspiration for the future.
Sukanya, now 36 and a sports professor at a Bangkok university, said she cried all the way back to the team hotel after the 2019 attack in France.
“We were very ready to play against them. We truly believed we would give them a difficult game,” she told AFP.
Instead, Sukyana was a victim when Megan Rapinoe’s all-conquering U.S. team inflicted the biggest defeat in a World Cup final match, men’s or women’s.
“I couldn’t accept that,” Sukanya admitted.
“I used to refuse to watch any clips of that game for years. I didn’t talk to my family about it.”
A respectable 3-0 friendly defeat against hosts France gave Thailand some confidence heading into their opening game against the defending champions.
At half-time they were 3-0 down in Reims, but worse was to come as the USA stormed back with 10 second-half goals to put them on course to win the trophy for a fourth time.
“You know what made me really sad about this? It’s just that I knew everyone was watching at home,” said Sukanya, fighting back tears.
“That day we were heartbroken that we had let the Thai people down.”
Sukanya and her teammates suffered cruel mockery online following the defeat.
But there was also harsh criticism of the Americans for their treatment of Thailand, which was competing in only its second appearance at the World Cup proper.
– ‘Wake-up call’ –
Some pundits and fans said the Americans’ celebrations after their later goals were rude and unsporting.
The North American players maintained their behavior and Thai captain Kanjana insisted she had no complaints.
“I think if they went easy on us it would be a lot more disrespectful,” Kanjana, who scored Thailand’s only goal of the tournament, told AFP.
“Not to back down, that’s the way of professional football.”
The 37-year-old, now player-coach at Bangkok FC, said the USA’s defeat was a “wake-up call” for women’s football in Thailand.
“We realized we needed to put as much effort into development as they did to be on the same level,” she said.
“At the time, being a professional football player wasn’t a career.”
Kanjana said Thai women’s football is better structured and runs more efficiently now, but a shortage of top clubs means the top-flight season lasts just a few weeks.
The teams face precarious facilities and a men’s game that attracts more attention.
– ‘It was an inspiration’ –
Nuengrutai Srathongvian, national coach in 2019, told AFP: “A lot of people don’t know about women’s football… so we could provide more information.”
Kanjana has hopes for the future following the election in February of the Thai Federation’s first female president, insurance tycoon Nualphan Lamsam.
Nualphan has set a target of qualifying for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
The FIFA Congress in Bangkok on Friday will choose the hosts, which will be Brazil or a joint bid from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Sukanya, now retired, will be keeping a close eye and hopes the current team can build on the lessons from 2019 as they aim to qualify.
After the 13-0 defeat, American Carli Lloyd, one of the greatest women’s players of all time, was one of the first to console the Thai players.
“She told me to keep going and not give up. It made me feel really good,” said Sukanya.
“It was an inspiration, but not for me to keep playing. Instead, I thought ‘I couldn’t beat you today, so I’ll go back and coach our young players so they can’.”
And the pride of having represented his country in a World Cup still shines.
“Just having played there against the best in the world – I can talk about it until I die,” she said.
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