Group A situation is very difficult for the Vietnamese team
The draw with Singapore caused Vietnam to temporarily rank 3rd with 4 points after 2 matches. Ranked above are Indonesia (6 points after 2 matches) and Singapore (7 points after 3 matches) respectively.
If coach Kim Sang-sik and his team lose to Indonesia away tonight, the right to decide the ticket to the semi-finals will no longer be in the hands of the defending champion. At that time, the island nation team will have 9 points and will definitely advance, just needing not to lose to Singapore in the last round to secure the top spot. As for the team in the lion island nation, they also only need 1 point in the last round (total 8 points) to not need to care about the match between Vietnam and Cambodia. Because if Vietnam wins against Cambodia, the red shirt team will only have 7 points.
Not only in Southeast Asian arenas, many major tournaments around the world have seen situations where two teams shake hands in the final round to eliminate the remaining competing team in their group. If they lose to Indonesia, Vietnam can see the two remaining competitors in this group draw in the final round.
If they draw with Indonesia, Vietnam will only have 5 points after 3 matches before facing Cambodia in the last group stage match. In addition, Singapore and Indonesia draw in the final match, there will be 2 situations due to the tournament calculating head-to-head matches and then goal difference.
One is that Vietnam drew with Indonesia with a score of 0-0 and won against Cambodia in the last round. Thus, all 3 teams will have the same 8 points after 4 matches. Vietnam then drew with Singapore and Indonesia but did not score, nor conceded a goal. Singapore and Indonesia only need to draw with a goal and Vietnam will be eliminated even though they have the same points and may have the largest goal difference.
Two is that Vietnam draws with a goal against Indonesia. At that time, the defending champion will have a slight advantage but still cannot be assured. The reason is that Indonesia and Singapore can create a draw with more goals than the confrontation between Indonesia and Vietnam. At that time, the "Golden Star Warriors" will still be eliminated.
Therefore, the task of the Vietnamese team is to win, just as Mr. Kim Sang-sik declared in the pre-match press conference.
The Vietnamese team needs to have a new lesson
Throughout his journey leading the Vietnamese national team since replacing his predecessor Philippe Troussier, Mr. Kim Sang-sik has always made the media "between" in predicting the starting lineup. The Korean strategist has almost never used the lineup he played in the previous match again. However, when he acted against this habit, unsatisfactory results immediately came.
The starting lineup in the match against Timor Leste (who won heavily 7-0) seemed to make Mr. Kim feel more secure than usual. It is undeniable that Vietnamese strikers were too unlucky at My Dinh Stadium. However, looking at the opposite side, the opponent had prepared very carefully, limiting a lot of the strength of the defending champion. Even if goalkeeper Patrik Le Giang had not played excellently in some situations, Vietnam could have lost right at home.
Also in the most recent match, Vietnam's midfield could not make a difference when the forwards were unlucky. Hoang Duc and Quang Hai are only suitable to play side by side when the opponent is too weak like Timor Leste. Against Singapore, the two players who won the Golden Ball did not score, nor did they ensure the task of sweeping when the opponent counter-attacks at high speed. Mr. Kim himself also admitted this and in the press conference before the match against Indonesia, the 49-year-old strategist said that this is the weakness of the team.
The final question is that in the attack of the Vietnamese team, besides Xuan Son and Hoang Hen, the remaining names in the trio will be Dinh Bac or Tai Loc starting? Both are unlucky in the match against Singapore, so they really need to regain confidence. This is what Mr. Kim will have to worry about the most when the team's task is nothing but 3 points.
