Waiting for a ticket to the ASEAN Cup 2026 final for the Vietnamese team

Heavenly time, geographical advantage, people's harmony

It is undeniable that the Vietnamese team had a very hard match against Malaysia in the first leg of the ASEAN Cup 2026 semi-finals. Despite a serious weakness in force, coach Tan Cheng Hoe's team still played hard against the "Golden Star Warriors". Mr. Kim Sang-sik himself also admitted that Vietnam did not play well when the lines were easily broken against the reasonably organized and tightly defended squad of the opponent.

However, with a deep and experienced force and many difficult situation response plans, the Vietnamese team could still win 2-0. Nguyen Xuan Son's classy header is considered the crystallization of long-term preparation and meticulous calculations that coach Kim Sang-sik built before the tournament. Thanks to that, even in the context of not being able to break the link in the midfield area of Malaysia, the Vietnamese team still broke the deadlock before scoring another goal by the home center-back's own goal.

The 2-0 result helps the Vietnamese team take an advantage for the second leg semi-final at My Dinh Stadium. Just by not losing by a difference of 2 goals or more, the "Golden Star Warriors" will reach the final. Through that, Mr. Kim Sang-sik will help his team break the jinx of losing to Malaysia in the semi-finals.

In addition to the score factor, the Vietnamese team also has the advantage of playing at home under the cheers of a large number of spectators. Proactively getting acquainted with My Dinh stadium for 2 training sessions before leaving for Malaysia last week also helped Dinh Bac and his teammates feel that the stadium space is better. Remember, it has been more than 2 years since the Vietnamese team returned to play at My Dinh. That is also the reason why the players did not play well in the 2 group stage matches, when they drew 0-0 with Singapore and won hard against Cambodia 3-1.

Another plus point for the Vietnamese team is the force. Malaysia travels to Hanoi in the context that Endrick has not yet recovered from his injury. The remaining names including Wan Kuzain, Jimmy Raymond, Fazrul Amir, Aliff Haiqal are also definitely unable to play. Even Rodney Celvin also just suffered an injury in the first leg of the semi-finals and had to be substituted when he only played for 16 minutes. With the Vietnamese team, coach Kim Sang Sik will probably remind Dinh Bac when he received 1 yellow card in the first leg of the semi-finals. If he does not want to lose the opportunity to play in the final of the tournament, the 22-year-old striker needs to avoid receiving more yellow cards against Malaysia in the second leg.

Affirming with strength

The Vietnamese team has too many advantages to reach the final once again. What fans hope from coach Kim Sang-sik's team is a more convincing playing style compared to the rather difficult match in Kuala Lumpur. In that match, besides Le Giang Patrik creating a highlight with 3 saves and 2 situations where VAR intervened to avoid penalties, many factors above did not play really to their full potential.

According to Xuan Son, the average performance of the Vietnamese team comes from ginger leaf grass and a rather bad field background. This will be verified when the team returns to My Dinh with more beautiful and quality Zoysia grass. The problem of using naturalized players is also something that Mr. Kim Sang-sik needs to find a solution with weight. Tai Loc and Hoang Hen have not yet achieved expectations, while Xuan Son is still fluctuating in scoring efficiency in the center forward position.

Dinh Bac's story is also something that the coaching staff must consider. The top scorer only scored against weak opponents such as Timor Leste or Cambodia. Against opponents such as Indonesia, Singapore or Malaysia, Dinh Bac could not show much.