What style of play will Vietnam and Thailand use in the ASEAN Cup final?

The Vietnamese team reached the finals with an unbeaten record, including only one draw against the Philippines in the group stage. In the semi-finals, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team defeated Singapore in both the first and second legs. The strength of the "Golden Star Warriors" has been greatly improved since Xuan Son appeared. However, it is uncertain whether Mr. Kim will let his team play an all-out attack against Thailand.

"I think the Vietnamese team should only play proactively against weak opponents. When facing teams of equal strength or higher rating (Thailand), we should switch to our strong style of play, which is defense and counter-attack.

In the last few matches, we saw that the team's playing style in a few minutes was somewhat similar to the old V.League, in the style of passing the ball up for foreign players to handle. Xuan Son is not picky about the ball, he can stay up there and handle it well and wait for his teammates to come up. However, this way of playing should not be encouraged, other players still need to support Xuan Son more" - Commentator Quang Huy commented.

Thailand's journey to the final was very difficult when they lost to the Philippines in the first leg of the semi-final away. Returning home, the "War Elephants" needed 120 minutes to reach the final to face Vietnam. More physical exhaustion, less rest and having to play the first leg of the final away were factors that significantly affected the preparation of Mashatada Ishii and his team.

"Thailand in this tournament may lack veteran players but their playing style is still very mature. This is because from the youth teams to the national team, Thailand is very even. They can play the same style from U19 to the national team. Even the players in Thai League B have good technical foundations. Therefore, the quality of Thai players is always at the top in the region.

No matter which coach is in charge of the Thai team, they will still play proactively and colorfully, attacking, counter-attacking, opening up the flanks or pressing, any way will work. I think they will not change their proactive and imposing style of play in the upcoming final match" - Commentator Quang Huy commented.

Because the first leg of the final was held at Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho, the Vietnamese team had to have a favorable result to gain capital. Mr. Kim and his students had more days off, ate and stayed at the place and waited for the opponent to arrive. Notably, Xuan Son and his teammates did not waste too much energy in the semi-finals.

"We have too many advantages over Thailand before this first leg of the final. I hope the team will turn the advantages in physical strength and rest days into concrete ways of implementing the playing style on the field.

I still maintain the view that Vietnam's strong playing style is defense - counter-attack, but with this advantage, if we can change a little more in many situations, using the strong firepower in the attack to operate. Not only that, when having the advantage over the opponent in terms of physical strength, Mr. Kim's students should press more evenly and enthusiastically to put pressure" - Commentator Quang Huy commented.