Vietnam is leading the national team 2-1 after the first leg of the 2024 ASEAN Cup final in Viet Tri. This is a favorable result but not too safe.
Because in the second leg, we have to play away at Rajamangala Stadium which has a capacity of more than 50,000 spectators. That is a big pressure for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team.
In the semi-finals, the Thai team lost the first leg 1-2 in the Philippines. However, the "War Elephants" won 3-1 in the second leg at Rajamangala Stadium.
After understanding each other well in the first leg, the second leg will hardly be open. Therefore, it is predicted that there will not be many goals. Both Vietnam and Thailand will aim for a solid game. Defensive counter-attack is the reasonable tactic for the Vietnamese team to aim for the best result.
Looking back at the matches between the two teams in the two ASEAN Cups (formerly known as the AFF Cup), it can be seen that the second leg matches in the knockout round did not have many goals.
In the second leg of the AFF Cup 2020 semi-finals, the Vietnamese team drew 0-0 with Thailand after losing 0-2 in the first leg. In the second leg of the AFF Cup 2022 final, the Thai team beat the Vietnamese team 1-0, after the first leg ended in a 2-2 draw.
In the second leg of the ASEAN Cup final, Thailand, with home field advantage, is likely to win 1-0 in 120 minutes, bringing the match to extra time.
Coach Ishii Masatada said in a pre-match press conference: "Thailand lost 1-2 and could not defend against Xuan Son, now we will have to stop him. We will fix the mistakes we made in the first leg.
There is no disadvantage for us. I cannot say exactly about the lineup for tomorrow's match. But we have prepared the best for the match and everything is fine with the Thai team. We have even prepared for the penalty shootout."
The Vietnamese team has been successful in all their penalties since the beginning of the tournament. The confidence that Xuan Son and his teammates have will be the foundation for us to move towards the penalty shootout smoothly.
Prediction: Thailand 1-0 Vietnam (final second leg). The aggregate score after two matches is 2-2. In the penalty shootout, the Vietnamese team won 3-1.
