After the group stage closed, the homepage of the ASEAN Cup (ASEAN United) assessed Nguyen Dinh Bac as one of the most outstanding faces of the tournament. The 21-year-old striker currently leads the top scorer list with 5 goals.
Dinh Bac started the tournament with a hat-trick in the 7-0 victory over Timor Leste. After the draw with Singapore, he regained his scoring ability with a double against Cambodia, thereby continuing to consolidate his leading position.
The homepage of the tournament believes that Dinh Bac is having the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Vietnamese strikers who have won the ASEAN Cup top scorer title. Previously, former player Le Huynh Duc was also the top scorer in 2002 with 8 goals, Tien Linh scored 6 goals in 2022, and Xuan Son won the title in 2024 with 7 goals.
This page wrote: "With 5 goals, Dinh Bac has a clear advantage in the top scorer race. He also has at least two more matches if the Vietnamese team advances to the final, thereby having the opportunity to continue to increase the gap with the chasing group".
Not only Dinh Bac personally, the ASEAN Cup homepage also highly appreciates the playing style and operation of the Vietnamese team. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team has 74 shots after 4 matches (the most in the tournament), of which 24 were on target. In addition, the Vietnamese team controlled the ball on average 57.6% and achieved an accuracy rate of 88%, which is also the highest statistic in the tournament.
According to the homepage, Hoang Duc, Hai Long and Thanh Long are factors that help the Vietnamese midfield maintain ball control, creating a foundation for attacking players to approach the opponent's goal.
According to the schedule, the Vietnamese team will play the first leg of the semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur on August 16 and return to My Dinh to play the second leg on August 19.
