Nguyen Xuan Son's debut tournament
“Nguyen Xuan Son, a naturalized player of the Vietnam national team. In his first time participating in a major tournament, he led the team to the championship. In total, in 5 matches, he scored a total of 7 goals and won the “Top scorer” award along with the “Best player” of the ASEAN Cup.
Looking at it from the opposite perspective, if Vietnam did not have Nguyen Xuan Son, winning the 2024 ASEAN Cup would be twice as difficult. Strong, agile, highly skilled, good at heading the ball and decisive when finishing. Those are Xuan Son's strengths. Without him, the Vietnamese team only scored 6 goals, but with him playing, they scored 15 goals in the next 5 matches," Siam Sport shared.
Currently, Xuan Son has undergone surgery for a serious injury in the final match of the ASEAN Cup 2024 and will need a long time to recover. According to a Thai newspaper, if this striker returns to the field soon, the Vietnamese team will be stronger than before.
Vietnam team is on the rise
Vietnam went undefeated in 7/8 matches, convincingly winning the 2024 ASEAN Cup. The team's success under coach Kim Sang-sik was partly due to the fact that Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia did not send their strongest squads. However, with tight, disciplined play and balanced play, Vietnam recreated the image of winning the 2018 ASEAN Cup.
Defense is the strength of the Vietnamese team, conceding only 6 goals in 8 matches. According to Siam Sport, winning the 2024 ASEAN Cup shows that the Vietnamese team is ready to move forward. If opponents are not careful, they will be overtaken.
Indonesia and Malaysia teams disappoint
These two strong teams were both eliminated in the group stage. The Indonesian team focused on the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and did not send their strongest squad to the 2026 ASEAN Cup, leading to an unsuccessful performance.
With the early elimination, coach Shin Tae-yong was fired, despite being the one who laid the foundation for the team's current success. Meanwhile, according to Siam Sport, the Malaysian team is still far from being able to repeat the success of its 2010 championship.
They have resources, but only sent the second team to the ASEAN Cup 2024, used a temporary coach, and were not ready for everything, leading to an early elimination.
Rain of goals
ASEAN 2024 saw a total of 91 goals scored, second only to the 2004 tournament (113 goals). These numbers clearly show that Southeast Asian football is focusing on entertaining its audience. And it reflects why people in this region are crazy about football.
Out of 26 matches throughout the tournament, only the Malaysia 0-0 Singapore match had no goals. The final match alone had a total of 8 goals after 2 matches, with exciting and unpredictable developments.
