In the two most recent ASEAN Cups, also known as AFF Cup, the Vietnamese team faced Thailand and suffered defeat.
At the AFF Cup 2020, the Vietnamese team met Thailand in the semi-finals. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was held centrally in Singapore in 2021. In the first leg, the Vietnamese team lost 0-2 and in the second leg, they drew 0-0, accepting defeat and missing the opportunity to defend the championship.
Coming to the AFF Cup 2022, the Vietnamese team is at its peak, leading Southeast Asia on the FIFA rankings. We are also the only team in Southeast Asia to make it to the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. This time, the Vietnamese team has won a ticket to the final and will meet Thailand again.
We had a dramatic 2-2 draw with our opponent at My Dinh Stadium. But in the return match, Thailand beat Vietnam 1-0, thereby winning 3-2 on aggregate and winning the championship.
In this tournament, the Vietnamese team has strengthened its attack since the appearance of Nguyen Xuan Son. In all 3 matches for the Vietnamese team, this naturalized striker scored.
In the recent second leg of the semi-final at Viet Tri Stadium, the Vietnamese team broke the "jinx" of not scoring a goal in the first half.
As for Thailand, they continued to show the strength of the defending champion after defeating the Philippines in the semi-finals. Despite being led 2-1 in the first leg, the Thai team defeated their opponent 3-1 in the second leg to win 4-3 on aggregate.
In the first leg of the ASEAN Cup final at Viet Tri Stadium, the Vietnamese team will have to take advantage of the opportunity to gain an advantage in terms of score. Xuan Son will be the important trigger that Mr. Kim Sang-sik and the coaching staff can put their trust in.
This is a match where Vietnam is expected to score but it will not be easy to keep a clean sheet against Thailand. We can win by 1 goal.
Prediction: Vietnam 2-1 Thailand
