On the evening of December 29, the Vietnamese team welcomed Singapore in the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 semi-finals. In the 38th minute, Xuan Son was pulled down by Lionel Tan Han Wei in the penalty area. The number 12 striker's shirt was torn at the neck due to the impact from the opposing player.
Xuan Son informed the referee and was allowed to go to the sidelines to change his shirt. This foul helped the Vietnamese team get a penalty.
After watching the slow-motion video, the referee made the above decision but the Singapore players reacted strongly. Lionel Tan received 2 consecutive yellow cards and left the field because of his bad attitude towards the referee. The match was interrupted for quite a while.
In the 45th minute, Xuan Son was able to take a penalty kick. He shot to the left, defeating goalkeeper Mohamad Mahbud and opening the score for the Vietnamese team. This was his 4th goal in the 2024 ASEAN Cup, after only 3 matches.
The first half ended with a minimal advantage for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team.
