A-League champions Melbourne Victory have included Thai international Surat Sukha in their matchday squad for Saturday night's clash against Brisbane at Docklands Stadium. It is the first time Sukha has been included in Victory's matchday squad for an A-League fixture. Sukha has so far turned out for the club in just a handful of pre-season matches, most notably a friendly against English Premier League club Fulham.
Sukha was curiously omitted from last week's matchday squad which disappointly succumbed to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of the Central Coast Mariners. With the injury of club captain Kevin Muscat, Victory's defensive stocks are thin and critics of coach Ernie Merrick's recruitment policy are growing more vociferous as the club looks to sign yet another striker.
Sukha is the first ever player from an ASEAN nation to play in Australia's top flight, and is one of a handful of AFC players recruited by A-League clubs in the off-season. He was signed from Thai Premier League club Chonburi to a two-year deal and should Sukha's stay in Australia prove to be a success, it is hoped that other A-League clubs will be encouraged to look for often underrated talent plying their trade in South-East Asia.
In being the first Thai player to sign for an A-League club, Sukha is something of a trailblazer and indeed an experiment. Australian football fans have become well aware of the technical quality on show in South-East Asia thanks to exposure to the Asian Cup and AFC Champions League. "I am very happy that I will be the first Thai player to play in Australia's top football league," Surat said. "I hope this will be the first step for other Thai players to follow", Sukha told the Bangkok Post in this article.
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