Thailand coach Mano Polking is wary of the presence of Japanese coach Keisuke Honda when his men meet Cambodia in the football competition at the SEA Games in Vietnam on Saturday.
The Thais began their campaign with a 2-1 loss to Malaysia in Group B but bounced back with a 5-0 win over Singapore on Monday.
Ben Davis gave Thailand the lead from the penalty spot just before half-time.
In the second half, Harhys Stewart scored an own goal, Ekanit Panya was on target twice and Korawich Tasa completed the rout.
The Thais will next face Honda's Cambodia, who thrashed Laos 4-1 in their opening match, on Saturday.
"It's an important win for our team. We lost in the first game and cannot afford to fail again," Polking said.
"We could play like we did in training and this is also an important thing."
He said Thailand still have two more difficult games against Cambodia and Laos.
The Brazilian added that he was happy that his players would have quite a long rest before taking on Cambodia on Saturday.
Former AC Milan star Honda worked with several top coaches during his playing career, Polking said.
"From what I have seen, Cambodia have a good playing system. Honda can definitely improve the team. However, we will be able to watch them when they next play Singapore," he said.
Meanwhile, Ekanit did not get carried away by the win against Singapore.
"We could control the game and had a lot of scoring chances," he said.
"We have two games remaining and we still have to improve and avoid making mistakes."
