After 2 consecutive wins at ASEAN Cup 2026, Singapore will have a guest match against Vietnam, the defending champion of the tournament. Vietnam has only played one match, winning against Timor-Leste 7-0.
Recently, a famous Singaporean newspaper predicted that striker Nguyen Xuan Son may cause more difficulties for the Singapore team in the upcoming match.
At ASEAN Cup 2024, Nguyen Xuan Son himself extinguished Singapore's hopes for the final when he scored 3 goals in the semi-finals, helping Vietnam win the overall victory after 2 legs. At the end of ASEAN Cup 2024, Vietnam won the championship for the 3rd time in history, and Xuan Son personally won the top scorer title (7 goals) and best player of the tournament.
With superior strength and accurate finishing ability, people can easily call him "Hanoi Haaland", even though his scoring rate is even higher than that of Norwegian striker Erling Haaland," the Singapore newspaper commented.
After 10 matches wearing the Vietnamese national team jersey, this naturalized striker has scored 12 goals. Among the matches he has worn the national team jersey, Xuan Son only did not score in 2 matches against Thailand in the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 final and the friendly match with Bangladesh at the beginning of 2026.
In the victory over Timor-Leste, Nguyen Xuan Son retreated deep into his own half and passed the ball to his teammates, or created space for supporting players such as Do Hoang Hen, Nguyen Quang Hai and Nguyen Dinh Bac, who scored a hat-trick. This shows the comprehensiveness in the playing style of the striker currently playing for Nam Dinh club.
What is worrying for the Singapore team is that the Vietnamese team has good naturalized players. In addition to Nguyen Xuan Son, the team also owns midfielder Do Hoang Hen (4 national team appearances, 3 goals) and striker Nguyen Tai Loc (1 national team appearance, 0 goals).
Bringing naturalized players into the Vietnamese national team gives coach Kim Sang-sik more tactical options, as he strives to help the team successfully defend the title for the first time in history.
The Vietnam vs Singapore match at ASEAN Cup 2026 will take place at 8:00 PM on July 31.
