Xuan Son faced Suphanat in the historic final: An amazing confrontation

2 heavy “artillery” guns

After two consecutive “failed” matches (Thailand met Cambodia in the final match of the group stage and met the Philippines in the first leg of the semi-finals), Suphanat Mueanta scored again at the AFF Cup 2024. Players of the Thai team currently have 4 goals, equal to the number of goals of teammates Patrik Gustavsson and Nguyen Tien Linh on the Vietnamese team and 1 goal less than Nguyen Xuan Son.

Xuan Son, Tien Linh, Gustavsson and Suphanat are also competing for the top scorer title at this year’s AFF Cup. Each of them has 2 more matches (first and second leg finals) to reach this title. Among these, Xuan Son and Suphanat are the main goalscorers of the two teams Vietnam and Thailand.

The Vietnamese team’s journey to the finals bore a big impression on Nguyen Xuan Son. This player missed the first 3 matches in the group stage, due to FIFA regulations. He only appeared in the final group stage match against Myanmar, and has only played 3 matches since the beginning of the tournament. However, Nguyen Xuan Son scores every match. He currently has a total of 5 goals, an average of 1.67 goals/match.

Suphanat Mueanta did not play in the final round of the group stage, when Thailand met Cambodia. In the remaining 5 matches of the Golden Temple team, up to the final, this 22-year-old striker has a total of 4 goals, an average of 0.8 goals/match.

In terms of the ratio of number of matches/number of goals, Suphanat Mueanta is only about half that of Nguyen Xuan Son, but the roles of these two players are not the same, so it is difficult to compare based on the parameters just mentioned. Nguyen Xuan Son often plays the role of center forward in the Vietnamese team. He always plays in the highest position in the home team’s winning chart. Xuan Son specializes in receiving the ball after passes from all directions from his teammates.

The difference between 2 top stars

With Suphanat Mueanta, the young striker of the Golden Temple team plays as a back striker. In addition to the task of scoring goals, Suphanat also has the additional task of passing the ball to striker Patrik Gustavsson to score. In addition, Suphanat is often not assigned to take penalty kicks, so this player’s value does not simply lie in the number of goals.

Suphanat Mueanta’s dribbles sometimes disrupt the opponent’s defense, creating space for other Thai strikers to occupy and score. Those are Suphanat’s invisible contributions. As for Nguyen Xuan Son, this player is highly appreciated not only for his diverse finishing ability, but also for his extremely sharp ability to “sniff out opportunities”. Normally, Xuan Son always knows how to appear right at the point where the ball is headed, before he shoots the ball into the opponent’s net. Nguyen Xuan Son discovered the opportunity right before the opponent realized the risk of conceding, unable to stop the striker of the Vietnamese team.

Another difference between Xuan Son and Suphanat is that the Thai player plays more technically and plays romantically like an artist. On the contrary, although Xuan Son is not inferior in terms of technique, he plays more strongly. . Xuan Son’s handling phases are always in the simplest direction, with as few touches as possible, because the less Xuan Son plays, the less time the opponent’s defenders have to retreat to block this player.

Each person or each type is dangerous in its own way. The common point between them lies in the fact that if the opponent’s defense is negligent, Nguyen Xuan Son and Suphanat Mueanta will immediately punish these careless moments. Whichever player is better in the match between the two teams Vietnam and Thailand on January 2 and 5, 2025, that player’s team will most likely win the AFF Cup 2024.