The Asians who do manage to break in to this top league usually come and go unnoticed. So it is a big step for a young Thai player from the Southern province of Surat Thani, Krisanawat Kongkot, 16, to be chosen over other young players from Singapore, Malaysia and China to attend the Championship Queens Park Rangers (QPR) Academy in London.

Krisanawat was selected after training with QPR Academy under the “Air Asia-QPR Coaching Clinic Tour” programme, which was hosted in London by Malaysia-based AirAsia and QPR FC between March 2 and 9. Another young Thai player Weerapat Kaewwongsa, also 16, also joined the tour.

Krisanawat, a goalkeeper, and Weerapat, a winger, are members of Chainat Hornbill FC’s Academy in the Central province of Chai Nat. The academy gathers talent from across the country, and trains and grooms young players to play for the team in the future.

About 80 football players throughout the country competed in a contest in December in which QPR coaches were part of the selection panel.

The young footballers who were selected to visit London attended training in class and in the field while having an opportunity to play alongside QPR Academy members.

A match was watched by QPR coaches who later had the players watch a recording of the match and listen to reviews. The coaches told each player how they could improve their technique and skills.

Krisanawat was the only player chosen to return to London and join the QPR Academy after demonstrating his goalkeeping talents during the session. “I’m very excited and proud to be selected to have an opportunity to play with the QPR Academy in London. I will do my best,” Krisanawat said.

Martino Chevannes, head of QPR’s International Football Programme, said Krisanawat had performed superbly during the training session.

“The goalkeeper coaches are very impressed with him. He got into the game very quickly and got involved in a lot of balls. That helped build a lot of confidence in the game,” Chevannes said.

Krisanawat played alongside young QPR and other Asian players against a local team, Wealdstone FC. During the first half, his team was losing five to nil but when Kisanawat was put in as keeper in the second half, his team did not give up another goal. Chevannes also mentioned that Weerapat had played the entire 90 minutes, unlike other Asian players who mostly just played one half of the match.

Chevannes said the young Asian players generally had done well, considering the difficult environment on the field and the quality of the players they faced for the first time in their lives. He added the freezing weather had been one of the main hurdles Asian players had dealt with.

In a separate interview, Weerapat agreed that it had been the first time that he had played in such cold weather. “Despite running, I felt frozen and could not even think.”

Kisanawat agreed, saying that he had felt very cold because his position did not allow him to move around much.

Asked if the language barrier could be obstacle for Thai players in England, Chevannes said it could be overcome if they trained with other players regularly, adding they would soon be able to make themselves understood. “There are other ways of communication on the football pitch. On the pitch, they can use body language, eye contact or hand signals,” he said.

“When you are on the pitch, it is about the ability to read the game and situation, and how you assess what happens in front of you, beside you and behind you,” he added.

Chevannes gave the example of Krisanawat’s question about how to tell defenders to give him the ball. The answer is simply to say “keeper”.

“It is his initiative, and he picked up the word right away. When he came on to the pitch on the second half, he used the word quite a bit.”

The size of a player does not always matter in the game, but tactics and skills do, Chevannes said. He also emphasised playing as a team, saying there is no “I” in football.

“Football is the team game. If you work as a team, you will succeed. If you want to play as an individual, you become a tennis player.”