Before the away match at My Dinh Stadium, Malaysian media focused on the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2026 semi-final between Vietnam and Malaysia. Memories of the comeback at Hanoi in 2014 are considered a spiritual support for coach Tan Cheng Hoe and his team.
12 years ago, Malaysia lost to Vietnam 1-2 at home in the first leg of the semi-finals. However, in the second leg at My Dinh, this team won 4-2, thereby successfully reversing the score with a total score of 5-4.
This achievement is recalled in the context of Malaysia continuing to fall into a disadvantageous situation after the first leg of the ASEAN Cup 2026 semi-finals. Coach Tan Cheng Hoe's team lost to Vietnam 0-2 at home and needed a victory with a difference of at least 2 goals to bring the match back to balance.
Malaysian media believes that the home team still has a basis to hope for a positive performance at My Dinh. Having to score goals and not having many options is assessed to help Malaysia enter the match with a more comfortable mentality.
Some opinions also suggest that the Vietnamese team will face certain pressure when they have to protect their advantage and aim for the goal of winning the right to the final. The performance of the Vietnamese team at My Dinh Stadium in the group stage, including the 0-0 draw against Singapore, is also considered a basis for Malaysia to look for opportunities.
However, the current situation is much different from 2014. At that time, Malaysia only lost to Vietnam by 1 goal in the first leg. This time, coach Tan Cheng Hoe's team had to face a 2-goal gap after a 0-2 defeat at home.
According to published statistics on the cases of the home team losing by a 2-goal margin in the first leg, the possibility of reversing the situation in the second leg is very low. In 38 statistically recorded cases, only once a team losing by a 2-goal margin at home could successfully reverse the score in the second leg.
However, the story of 2014 is still mentioned by Malaysia as a source of motivation before the match. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese team has a clear advantage and only needs to maintain concentration, limit mistakes to protect the results achieved in the first leg.
