Vietnam team should not be too confident
Speaking to Lao Dong, Mr. Daisuke Shindo - who is currently the principal of Urawa Reds Academy Vietnam football school shared: "I was a student of Singapore head coach Tsutomu Ogura 30 years ago. I believe the match between Singapore and Vietnam will be exciting.
The Singapore team has experienced players, if they play well in the first leg of the semi-final, they will cause many difficulties for the Vietnam team. However, overall, I believe the Vietnam team will win the final. Furthermore, the Vietnam team will be a strong candidate to win the ASEAN Cup this year."
According to football expert Daisuke (working in Hanoi), the Vietnamese team should not be too confident when entering the semi-final, especially the first leg. Because playing on artificial turf will have certain disadvantages. Mr. Daisuke also highly appreciated the Vietnamese team for the quality of the players.
“The Singapore team also has a naturalized player of Japanese origin, Kyogoa Nakamura, but he cannot play in the first leg of the semi-final due to suspension. Meanwhile, the Vietnam team has naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son, who is very eager to contribute to the team. I believe that the Vietnam team will definitely win,” Mr. Daisuke added.
Singapore team has comfortable mentality
Meanwhile, Singaporean football experts believe that good finishing and taking advantage of the artificial turf can help the home team create a surprise against the Vietnamese team.
“Singapore can be confident going into the semi-final against Vietnam because they have done well so far in the ASEAN Cup. In difficult times, they have proven that they can achieve good results. That is really important when entering important matches like this,” sports commentator and former professional footballer Rhysh Roshan Rai told Channel News Asia (CNA).
Singapore has not beaten Vietnam in 26 years. The last time the Lions beat Vietnam was in the 1998 Tiger Cup final with a score of 1-0 thanks to the only goal by Shasi Kumar.
Sharing with CNA, Sasi Kumar - who is also a football commentator, emphasized that the home team needs to take advantage of playing at the Jalan Besar artificial turf field as well as play with concentration.
“Singapore must play with concentration for 90 or even 95 minutes. At the same time, they must improve their ball control. Vietnam will definitely try to put pressure right in the opponent’s half. Therefore, Singapore must do well to escape this,” he said.
According to Mr. Kumar, the Singapore team needs to make good use of counter-attacks, with the sharpness of striker Shawal Anuar - who is leading the scoring list. In addition, set pieces are also a solution for the Singapore team to create breakthroughs against the Vietnam team.
The match between Singapore and Vietnam will take place at 8:00 p.m. on December 26.
