AFC Women's Asian Cup
While Saowalak Pengngam stole the spotlight with a hat-trick, Ikeda stressed that Thailand should have been more ruthless in front of goal.
“Getting the win in our first game is satisfying but looking back, we created a lot of chances. We should have scored more goals,” Ikeda said.
“In the second half, we tried to move the ball quicker and make some changes. The substitutes did well and Saowalak played her role effectively.
“Looking ahead to the match against Iraq, we're confident of our strength and believe we can return better prepared to collect all three points."
Meanwhile, Iraq celebrated a historic first-ever win over higher-ranked Mongolia, claiming an impressive 5-2 victory in the group’s other fixture.
Despite Mongolia being 47 places above Iraq in the FIFA rankings, AbdulWahab Abu AlHail’s side showed resilience and attacking intent with Nur Al-Jawahiri netting a hat-trick with further goals from Tbarek AlGhazawi and Hoda Khalaf.
The result will be a confidence boost for the squad, as head coach Abu Al Hail looks to build momentum heading into their crucial clash against Thailand.
Sunday's earlier match in the group will see India, who opened their campaign with a 13-0 win against Mongolia, playing Timor-Leste.
