Playing against Thailand in the AFF Cup final, will Tien Linh and Xuan Son play together?

Tien Linh won’t have extra reserves?

In the last 3 matches of the Vietnamese team against Myanmar in the group stage, and with Singapore in the semi-finals in the first and second legs, Tien Linh usually only came on the field in the last minutes of the match, partnering with Xuan Son.

When these two players are played together, they are much more dangerous than usual. Typically, in the semi-final first leg against Singapore at Jalan Besar on December 26, Xuan Son was almost blocked by Singapore players for most of the match. When Tien Linh appeared after the 70th minute, Xuan Son shined, Tien Linh also shined, each scoring 1 goal for coach Kim Sang-sik’s team.

Explaining this, former VFF Professional Vice President Duong Vu Lam said: “If only one of two players Xuan Son or Tien Linh is on the field, the opponent can rush troops to follow. One of these two people. The center backs of teams like Singapore or Thailand are not inferior in terms of physical strength, they are physically strong, so marking the center forwards of the Vietnamese team, including tall center forwards like Xuan Son is not too big a problem for But if both Xuan Son and Tien Linh appear at the same time, the opponent’s forces will be scattered, their defense will be spread thin and the strikers of the Vietnamese team will be much easier to score.”

Meanwhile, former coach of the U.23 Vietnam team, Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan predicted: “In the final match against Thailand, there is a very high possibility that Xuan Son and Tien Linh will be in the starting lineup. Different from In previous matches, the Vietnamese team did not need to hide their cards in the final. That was the match where we used all our strengths and our strongest points at this time is the striker pair Tien Linh – Xuan Son when they are present On the field at the same time, the Vietnamese team’s attack is extremely strong.”

If you pay close attention, in the semi-final second leg against Singapore on the evening of December 29 at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho), coach Kim Sang-sik let Tien Linh play next to Xuan Son much longer than usual: Tien Linh came on the field at the beginning of the half. 2, instead of only appearing for about 20 – 25 minutes next to Xuan Son, in previous matches. That could be coach Kim Sang-sik’s preparation for the final match, preparing for Xuan Son’s plan to pair striker with Tien Linh from the start.

The Vietnamese team has hardly preempted opponents since the beginning of the AFF Cup until now. We usually only speed up in the second half of each match. That is the reason why coach Kim Sang-sik’s team scored 15/16 goals in this year’s tournament in the second half. However, the final match may be different. The Vietnamese team can completely pre-empt Thailand at Viet Tri’s home field, firstly by surprising the opponent, secondly by making the most of the offensive ability of the striker duo Xuan Son – Tien Linh . The striker duo is probably the most effective that Vietnamese football has ever had in the AFF Cups.