Nguyen Xuan Son's double helped Vietnam win 2-1 in the first leg on the evening of January 2. The two teams will play the return match on January 5, at Rajamangala Stadium, Thailand.
Siam Sport newspaper listed some notable points from the performance of the Vietnamese and Thai teams.
Strange starting lineup
Thailand's leading newspaper was surprised by the starting lineup of the Thai team in the first leg. The best central midfielders Peeradon and Weerathep were only on the bench, alongside striker Suphanat.
Attacking midfielder Ekanit Panya started in the starting lineup after recovering from injury. On the left side of the defense, Ishii used Nicholas Mickelson – who is a right-back and has impressive attacking ability.
With this arrangement, the left wing of the Thai team was almost harmless throughout the match. Mickelson could not use his accurate crosses and sidelines.
Another position that Thailand's team did not play well was midfielder Seksan Ratree - who participated in all 7 matches at the ASEAN Cup. According to Siam Sport, this midfielder should be rested, because he played ineffectively and had poor coordination with his teammates.
Need to change center back position
In the match on the evening of January 2, coach Masatada Ishii arranged for Pansa Hemviboon and Chalermsak Aukkee to play together as a central defender.
This is the second consecutive match they have played together in the center of the “War Elephants” defense. In the first half, they supported and covered each other well, making it impossible for Nguyen Xuan Son to score any goals.
However, in the second half, the Vietnamese team made adjustments to hit the weakness of these two players, which was their slow ability to turn. Nguyen Xuan Son stole the ball from Chalermsak before passing Pansa to score the second goal.
According to Siam Sport, with what has been revealed in the two matches, the Thai team needs to change the center-back position in the first leg of the final. Jonathan Khemdee should be given a starting position, paired with Pansa or Chalermsak.
Regarding Chalermsak personally, the Thai newspaper also frankly criticized him for not making provocative and disrespectful statements to the opponent before the match. Playing in the blocking position in front of the goalkeeper, any mistake by Chalermsak would lead to big consequences, as evidenced by the second goal.
Fortunately, the midfielder made up for his mistake by scoring a goal to reduce the score to 1-2. Otherwise, he would have been heavily criticized by fans and experts in the coming days.
Kim Sang-sik Transforms
According to Siam Sport, besides Nguyen Xuan Son, coach Kim Sang-sik is the one who deserves to be praised after the victory of the Vietnamese team.
In the match at Viet Tri Stadium, the Vietnamese team only controlled the ball 36%, made 255 passes… much less than Thailand. However, Hoang Duc and his teammates had 21 shots, 9 on target, forcing the opposing goalkeeper to save 7 times.
According to Thai newspapers, the Korean strategist showed his alertness and wisdom in building the playing style and using personnel at each moment. In particular, he left Quang Hai on the bench and sent him onto the field from the second half.
It was Quang Hai who made the pass for Van Thanh to head, creating conditions for Nguyen Xuan Son to score the first goal.
