When Xuan Son controlled and then turned to shoot, creating a beautiful curve before hitting the Singaporean goalkeeper in the first leg of the ASEAN Championship 2024 semi-final on the evening of December 26, controversy arose over whether the ball touched his hand or not. There were even images citing FIFA's rules (the ball touched above the shoulder or below the sleeve) to confirm that the referee was not on Xuan Son's and the Vietnamese team's side in this situation...
Referee Kim Woo-sung took a long time to consider and discuss with his colleagues to make a decision. What they talked about before coming to a conclusion has not been made public, but of course, they had to rely on the law, experience in handling situations and determining the positions where the ball touched the body.
However, the 27-year-old striker affirmed that “the referee was wrong” - joining the wave of protests against the steadfast Korean coach. In fact, right at the moment the goal was not recognized, the Brazilian striker reacted very strongly. When Xuan Son said “he didn’t think it was a handball situation”, it can be understood that he still knew there was a handball but it was not intentional. However, the rule is the rule, and the referee has decided.
If the match result is not in favor of the Vietnamese team, Xuan Son will react even more strongly. Many fans will do the same... Of course, it can only be imagined, because that situation does not happen, but from a psychological perspective, that possibility is very high and the reaction is very likely to no longer be "respect for the decision".
The problem is, the “Golden Star Warriors” returned from Singapore with a 2-0 victory, including a goal by the striker of the Nam Dinh Steel Club. He and most of them were willing to open their hearts and accept that the goal was denied (only regretting the possibility of becoming one of the candidates for the most beautiful goal of the tournament), accepting the referee's mistake.
Without judging the referee right or wrong, what Xuan Son thinks, but we must be honest with each other that, besides the emotions that this striker brings, the overall performance of the rest is still not good. From the position in the goal to the midfield and the attacking satellites around Xuan Son, there is always something lacking, something extra, to create coherence, clear play (besides the long pass to the target striker).
And as the goals slowly moved from the second half into extra time, the difficulty remained at the end...
