Kiatisuk Senamuang


Police Lieutenant Kiatisuk "Zico" Senamuang, is a Thai football manager and a former footballer who played between 1989 and October 2007. During his eighteen-year career Kiatisuk played as a striker and scored 251 goals in 339 appearances. The former striker played for clubs in Malaysia, Singapore, England and Vietnam as well as in his homeland. Kiatisuk also earned 131 caps and scored 70 goals for Thailand between 1992 and 2007. In 1996, while playing for Raj Pracha FC Kiatisuk scored 127 goals in 71 games, achieving an record as top scorer.
Between 2014 and 2017, Kiatisuk was manager of the Thai senior team and,, the Thailand U-23 team. Previously, in 2013, he had also been the caretaker manager of Thailand.
Kiatisuk has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Dhurakij Pundit University and Master of Business Administration from Chandrakasem Rajabhat University.

Playing career

Club career

Kiatisuk Senamuang played with Perlis in Malaysia before joining an English club Huddersfield Town in 1999, which the then manager, Steve Bruce, considered merely a publicity stunt. After one season, in which he did not feature in the Huddersfield Town first team squad, Kiatisuk left English football for Rajpracha Sports Club in Thailand, later joining Singapore Armed Forces FC where he scored 15 goals in 20 games. In March 2002, he moved once again to become a star in Vietnam with Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, where he helped win the V.League 1 title several times. He returned to play for the Thailand national football team in the King's Cup.

International career

Kiatisuk played 131 international matches and scored 70 goals for the national team. Both figures are Thai national records.

Managerial career

Vietnam

After retiring from playing in 2006, Kiatisuk went straight into management with V-League side Hoàng Anh Gia Lai

Return to Thailand

In 2008, Kiatisuk returned to Thailand to take charge of Chula United. In 2009, Kiatisuk became the head coach of Chonburi F.C. and led the club to win the 2009 Kor Royal Cup. Kiatisuk managed to finish the season in second place, with the highest points ever achieved by the club. Nevertheless, after failing to secure the domestic league title he resigned.

Second spell in Vietnam

Kiatisuk went to Vietnam again to manage his former club Hoàng Anh Gia Lai. He finished his season in the V-League in seventh place. He led Hoàng Anh Gia Lai to the final of the 2010 Vietnamese Cup but lost 0-1 to Sông Lam Nghệ An at Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City.

Back to Thailand again

In December 2010, Kiatisuk returned to Thailand as the head coach of Chula United in Division 1. He brought the club to third place by the end of the season resulting in promotion to the 2012 Thai Premier League. After ten games in the top league, Kiatisuk resigned from his position due to poor results: 1 win, 4 draws, and 5 losses.
A month later, Kiatisuk decided to join Bangkok F.C. in the 2012 Thai Division 1 League to help the club to avoid relegation. Bangkok survived in the second league of Thailand after finishing in tenth place.

The national manager

In January 2013, Kiatisuk was appointed to be the head coach of Thailand U-23. He won 1-0 in his debut match in the friendly against Ayutthaya F.C. of Division 1 on 12 January.
In June 2013, Kiatisuk was appointed as the new Thai national team coach, replacing Winfried Schaefer in a caretaker capacity. He was also responsible as the head coach for the Thai under-23 national football team preparing for the 2013 Southeast Asian Games. His debut match as manager of the War Elephants was in a friendly against China on 15 June 2013, which the Thais won 5-1.
As head coach of Thailand U-23, Kiatisuk guided the team to 2013 SEA Games football gold, adding to 4 golds he won as a player in 4 straight Games from 1993 to 1999. He also led Thailand U-23 to the semi-finals at 2014 Asian Games and finished in 4th place.
In 2014, due to his success in 2014 Asian Games, Kiatisuk was appointed to be the new manager of Thailand to compete in the 2014 AFF Championship. Obtaining victory with a 4-3 aggregate score against Malaysia, Kiatisuk became the person to win the ASEAN Football Championship as a player and as a manager.
In 2015, for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round, Thailand was drawn in the same group as Iraq, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei. With Kiattisuk as manager, the team to finished as the winner of the group with 14 points from 6 games. Thailand advanced to the final round of qualification.
In 2016, Kiatisuk managed the Thai side in their defence of the 2016 AFF Championship. Having won all the games en route to the final, on 14 December Thailand lost 1-2 at Pakansari Stadium against Indonesia in the first leg of the final, despite having held the lead in the first half. Nevertheless, Thailand managed to secure a return of the trophy with a 2-0 win at Rajamangala Stadium and lifted their fifth regional title on 17 December 2016.
Kiatisuk Senamuang continued to coach Thailand in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round. However, he managed to collect only one point from 7 games of the qualification. After a 0-4 loss to Japan at Saitama Stadium 2002 on 28 March, three days later, after four years in charge, Kiatisuk stepped down from his position as the manager of the national team.

Managerial statistics

A win or loss by penalty shoot-out is counted as a draw.
Kiatisuk Senamuang managed the team on a one-off basis as caretaker-manager.
Only FIFA approved games are counted for Thailand.

International goals

Personal life

Kiatisuk is a Buddhist born in Udon Thani. Before he became a professional football player, he worked as a police officer, but always had a love for football. According to a friend, "his move to football was prompted by insecurity".
He was given the nickname Zico by his friends, in honour of his favourite Brazilian football idol Zico.
Kiatisuk learned Vietnamese and spoke fluently Vietnamese language just after 1-2 years during his career in Vietnam.

Honours

Player

International

Club

Individual

International

Club

Video games

Kiatisuk Senamuang appears in World Soccer Jikkyou Winning Eleven 2000: U-23 Medal Heno Chousen as a player of Thailand U-23. His name in the game is "Senamuran".