Asian Cup fails to woo soccer-crazy Thais

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-07-12 08:38

"They're big (English) Premier League followers so we expected they would be coming out to watch Australia's Premier League players," John Boultbee, Australian soccer's head of high performance, told Reuters.

"The players are happy with everything here... but I know they were very disappointed by the crowd."

The Asian Football Confederation declined to comment on the low crowd numbers.

Suthep Somnam, a barber shop owner, said the Thai team -- the dominant force in South East Asian soccer -- needed to prove their worth to draw the crowd.

"They're not good enough," he said. "I think people will come to watch if they start winning. If not, TV is better."