National U23 team coach Worrawoot Srimaka apologised to the Thai fans for the second time in four days after the War Elephants lost 4-2 to China in the Dubai Cup on Saturday night.
The Thais were also beaten 1-0 by Qatar on the opening day of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, prompting Worrawoot to say "sorry" to the national team supporters.
It was a one-man demolition job as the Chinese got all their four goals from Fang Hao who netted in the eighth, 31st, 34th and 66th minutes to pave the way for a deserving win.
The Thais saw Sittichok Paso score in the 11th minute before William Weiderjoe got his name on the scoresheet with a superb free-kick during the four-minute added time.
Worrawoot said his men made some mistakes early in the match and then forgot to follow the tactics.
"Today, we have to apologise to the Thai football fans once again," said the Thai coach.
"We were way off the mark and all the goals we conceded today were because of our mistakes."
Worrawoot added that his men lost the confidence after their efforts to build up the game from the back proved futile on a few occasions at the start of the match and they put themselves under pressure.
"Once you don't follow the tactics, you are bound to lose like this," said Worrawoot. "Now we have to help the players regain their confidence and correct their mistakes as well.
"It all boils down to two things: our players lack fitness and some of them are taking part in their first international tournament.
"We can see that Charnnarong Promsrikaew has played very well, but it's clear that his fitness is much better than the other players."
Meanwhile, Thailand will play next game against Iraq tomorrow at 8pm (Thai time), the organisers announced yesterday. The match will be televised live by Thai Rath TV (32) and AIS Play.
