On the evening of August 24, the Thai team departed for Vietnam with 25 players. The team is expected to arrive at Noi Bai airport on the same evening and enter the training session at My Dinh Stadium on August 25 to complete preparations for the decisive match for the ASEAN Cup 2026 championship.
In the first leg final at home, Thailand let Vietnam win 2-0. This result makes the Golden Temple team face a difficult task when they must win by at least 2 goals in the second leg if they want to bring the match back to balance.
However, coach Anthony Hudson still showed confidence before the away trip to Hanoi.
We had two training sessions before coming to Vietnam. The main goal is to help the players reach their best condition, then have another training session in Hanoi before the second leg," coach Anthony Hudson said.
The English coach believes that the Thai team still has a chance to change the situation in the final match. He emphasized that the whole team, from the coaching staff to the players, are confident in their ability to achieve positive results at My Dinh Stadium.
According to coach Anthony Hudson, Thailand's big problem in the first leg was the ability to take advantage of opportunities. The home team created some dangerous situations but could not score, while the Vietnamese team better utilized the opportunities they had.
We had scoring opportunities but could not convert them into goals. That's a pity. The Vietnamese national team goalkeeper was voted the best player of the match and that says quite a lot," coach Anthony Hudson commented.
The Thai team also determined to be cautious about the counter-attacking ability of the Vietnamese team. Besides, fitness will be an important factor when the away team needs to maintain a high intensity of play throughout 90 minutes.
Striker Jehanafi Mama said that the whole team understands that they are not allowed to lose focus if they want to make a difference at My Dinh.
We want to score the opening goal as soon as possible to make the match more open. Thailand needs to be wary of counter-attacks from the opponent and fitness issues, because we need to maintain our ability to play throughout 90 minutes," Jehanafi Mama said.
The second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2026 final between Vietnam and Thailand takes place at 8:00 PM on August 26th at My Dinh Stadium. With a 2-0 lead after the first leg, Vietnam only needs to maintain the gap to aim for the championship, while Thailand is forced to play offensively and look for goals.
