BANGKOK -- Thailand's new head coach Milovan Rajevac insisted on Friday that the future was bright for the nation's football, despite a miserable third-round 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.
The Thais have earned just one point out of a possible 21 in seven matches so far, losing by a combined seven goals to nil in their most recent games against Saudi Arabia and Japan.
But the former Ghana boss is looking forward to the challenge of taking over from Kiatisuk Senamuang. "Zico" who resigned in March. The Serbian believes he is the right man to get the country moving in the right direction again.
"Thailand is definitely a country with bright prospects for the future in football," said Rajevac. "I was very happy to be offered the job and I think I can make a positive impact and we can build a great future for this team.
"There is a lot of potential here and football is very popular. It is a great country and football is evolving, and I think I can contribute a lot."
When asked about Thailand's chances of reaching a future World Cup, Rajevac called for patience. His standout achievement remains taking Ghana to within a penalty shootout of the World Cup semifinal in 2010.
"I have had experience of managing at the African Cup of Nations and also at the World Cup," said Rajevac. "It takes time, patience, professionalism and dedication, but I think that Thailand has fantastic prospects for the future and if we all work together, anything is possible.
"It would be great for Thailand to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Hopefully, this can be a realistic target. I'm very optimistic about our prospects if we all give our best."
Rajevac is aware that Kiatisuk is a tough act to follow but is confident that he can pick up from where Zico left off after a successful three years in charge.
"Kiatisuk did an exceptional job and the team really improved during this period and, of course, where he stopped, we have to continue, said Rajevac. "We can use previous knowledge and experience and we will implement what we think is important to build on what is in place.
"I can see there is a lot of talent, the technique is okay and players like to play a more attacking style of football."
But the 63-year-old recognises that fixing Thailand's leaky defence has to be one of his priorities, with the War Elephants having conceded 19 goals in seven World Cup qualifiers.
"Our style of play has to be more tactically disciplined and we should not concede so many goals," said Rajevac. "I'm known for a style of play where my teams never concede so many goals. So it's important to improve that in order to compete with other teams."
Apart from instilling more defensive discipline in the team, Rajevac did not give too much away regarding the playing style he expected his side to adopt.
Rajevac told ESPN FC, "It's important to evaluate everything and I'm sure there's a lot of room for improvement. It's difficult to say what kind of formation we will adopt now. First, we have to meet the players and start training with them.
"The players should be able to change formations in the course of one match. It's about the versatility of the players and their ability. We will be able to talk about this more in the future."
The Thai national team have seven more matches scheduled in 2017, starting with a friendly in Uzbekistan on June 6 before the first of three remaining World Cup qualifiers, at home to the UAE.
Performances in these two games should give Thai fans an early chance to decide for themselves if Rajevac appears to be the right man to lead them to a bright future.