Former player Quang Hai: "Vietnam team will have an advantage over Singapore"

Vietnam entered the semi-finals of the 2024 ASEAN Cup as the top team in Group B. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will face Singapore, the second-placed team in Group A.

16 years ago, the Vietnamese team also defeated the Singapore team in the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2008 (now the ASEAN Cup) with a total score of 1-0 after 2 matches. The author of that only goal was striker Nguyen Quang Hai.

Then, the Vietnamese team defeated Thailand with a total score of 3-2 in the two final matches to bring home the first AFF Cup championship for Vietnamese football.

Speaking to Lao Dong before the first leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 semi-final between Vietnam and Singapore, former national player Nguyen Quang Hai believes in a favorable result for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team.

“In my opinion, the Singapore team at the ASEAN Cup 2024 is not too strong, even weaker than in previous years. Their journey in the group stage was also quite difficult, their main strength is their fighting spirit. Meanwhile, the Vietnam team is a more balanced team, striker Nguyen Xuan Son is integrating well with his teammates.

I believe the Vietnamese team will have an advantage right on the opponent's field with a victory, creating a favorable premise for the return match at home. However, our players must not be subjective but need to be cautious and have a certain level of concentration," former player Nguyen Quang Hai assessed.

The 2008 AFF Cup champion added: "The difficulty for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team is having to play on an artificial pitch, the bounce and speed of the ball will be different from a natural grass pitch.

However, the Vietnamese team needs to adapt, just like how we had a very difficult time on the artificial turf field of the Philippines team Rizal Memorial in the group stage, but also successfully overcame the difficulties with the last-minute equalizer by Doan Ngoc Tan."

Former national team player Nguyen Quang Hai also highly appreciated the performance and integration of striker Nguyen Xuan Son. But he also predicted that this will be a match where Singapore will take special care of this naturalized player.

“I predict that Singapore will play solidly in this match and will do everything to lock down Nguyen Xuan Son. However, the Vietnamese team has many attacking options when we have Quang Hai or Hoang Duc, or players in good form like Tien Linh and Vi Hao. Long-range shots are also a good solution for the Vietnamese team to find a way into the Singapore team's goal,” the former player from Khanh Hoa shared.