Golden opportunity
Before the first leg of the 2024 ASEAN Cup final, the Vietnamese team had gone 27 years without defeating Thailand at home. The "golden" past with a 3-0 victory over the Thais at Hang Day Stadium took place in 1998. At that time, Xuan Son, Quang Hai, Tien Linh or Thanh Chung... were only 1 year old, many young faces such as Viet Anh, Van Khang, Thanh Binh were not even born yet. Dinh Trieu - the oldest face in the squad had just started primary school.
That said, the memories of the majority of Vietnamese players revolving around matches with Thailand are mostly failures. In 29 matches before the first leg of the final, the Vietnamese team lost 18 matches, drew 8 matches and won only 3 matches. Perhaps, their subconscious is the victory over Thailand after 2 matches of the 2008 ASEAN Cup final (then AFF Cup) to be crowned the regional champion for the first time. But at that time, the "Golden Star Warriors" won away with a score of 2-1 and returned home with a 1-1 draw. Coach Calisto's team also struggled against a Thailand team that was considered to be higher in terms of skill.
However, the first leg of the 2024 ASEAN Cup final, which took place on the evening of January 2 at Viet Tri Stadium, witnessed a scenario in which Vietnam dominated Thailand. Although they had half the ball possession, the number of opportunities and a series of shots of the home team were superior to the "War Elephants". Statistics from the tournament organizers showed that Xuan Son and his teammates had 20 shots, nearly double that of Thailand (11 times). Particularly in terms of shots on target, Vietnam had 9 times and 3 times more than Thailand.
Rarely in history, the Vietnamese team has made the Thai defense so afraid. The appearance of Nguyen Xuan Son has changed the situation and the strength of the two teams. In addition to the 2 goals against Thailand, the naturalized striker also had 4 other opportunities to threaten the opponent's goal. If Xuan Son had been more attentive in the face-offs with goalkeeper Patiwat, the Vietnamese team could have won against Thailand with a larger score difference.
Success or failure at the Thai stadium
Xuan Son became the first player of the Vietnam National Team to score 2 goals in a match against Thailand. That partly proves the dangerousness of the striker born in 1997. It is worth mentioning that the Thai defenders, although very wary of Xuan Son, did not have enough physical strength, power and alertness to follow the star of the Vietnam National Team throughout the official 90 minutes.
Sharing with Thai media, midfielder Supachok admitted that he and the whole team could not find a way to block the "spearhead" of the Vietnamese team, and at the same time did not know how the Thai team would neutralize Xuan Son in the upcoming second leg match.
Thailand can only rely on home field advantage. Two years ago at the ASEAN Cup 2022, at Thammasat Stadium, Theerathon Bunmathan's goal helped the "War Elephants" defeat Vietnam with a final score of 3-2 after 2 final matches to defend the championship.
However, it should be added that this was also the only time Thailand beat Vietnam at home since 2015. Because, in the matches from King's Cup 2019 to World Cup 2022 qualifiers on Thai soil, Vietnam either drew or won.
Rajamangala Stadium also evokes beautiful memories for the Vietnam team in the ASEAN Cup. In 2008, at this stadium, the Vietnam team won 2-1 against Thailand in the first leg of the final. The first victory against the regional rival gave Cong Vinh and his teammates more motivation to confidently return to My Dinh. The 1-1 draw in the second leg of the final helped Vietnam defeat Thailand 3-2 to lift the Southeast Asian Gold Cup.
Historical memories are a value for the current Vietnam team to confidently move forward. Ahead of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team is the final match of a campaign that has been prepared for nearly half a year. With the high performance of many players, the "Golden Star Warriors" are confident in bringing the Gold Cup out of Thailand...
