Vietnam’s journey to the AFF Cup championship: Very thrilling

The Vietnamese team’s start was not flashy

The Vietnamese team kicked off the AFF Cup 2024 with a 4-1 victory over the Laos team on the evening of December 9, 2024. At that time, this victory was considered unconvincing, especially when people looked at Thailand’s 10-0 victory over Timor Leste just one day earlier.

The second match of the Vietnamese team at this year’s tournament against Indonesia on the evening of December 15, 2024 at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho) continued to thrill fans. Coach Kim Sang-sik’s team only defeated Indonesia with a narrow 1-0 margin, in the context of Indonesia using the U.21 team to participate in this year’s AFF Cup.

By the third match, against the Philippines on December 18, 2024, there began to be criticism of coach Kim Sang-sik’s personnel arrangement. To be fair, these criticisms are… well founded. The Vietnamese team drew 1-1 and almost lost to the Philippines. Only thanks to the equalizer in the 7th minute of injury time from Doan Ngoc Tan, who had never scored for the Vietnamese team in official tournaments before, did Kim Sang-sik’s team regain 1 point on the field. Rizal Memorial in Manila (Philippines).

Some people are starting to worry that the Vietnamese team may be eliminated in the group stage, because our final opponent in the group stage, Myanmar, is in full swing. They always have the intention of defeating the Vietnamese team, to steal tickets to the semi-finals from us.

Accelerate, create a turning point

Only when the match against Myanmar at Viet Tri Stadium ended on the evening of December 21, 2024 did people have a different opinion about Vietnam. The match against Myanmar is also the debut match, the introduction to fans of naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son.

This can be considered a turning point for the Vietnamese team at this year’s AFF Cup. Xuan Son contributed 2 goals in the Vietnamese team’s 5-0 victory over Myanmar. More importantly, since this match, Xuan Son has scored in every match, the Vietnamese team has had 2 or more goals in every match, and in every match they have overwhelmed their opponents.

Consecutively in the first and second semi-final matches against Singapore, Kim Sang-sik’s team pressed the opponent’s field. We won 2-0 at Jalan Besar Stadium (Singapore) on December 26, 2024 and won 3-1 at Viet Tri Stadium on December 29, 2024, ultimately winning 5-1.

In both semi-final matches, coach Kim Sang-sik’s team clearly had a clear advantage over their opponents. This was also the time when Nguyen Xuan Son accelerated strongly on the race to the title of top scorer. From the last starting position, he took the lead, surpassing all the remaining strikers in the tournament.

Prepare to reach the finish line

Thailand is the final barrier for the Vietnamese team. That is also the most difficult barrier for us to overcome in the history of AFF Cups. Even before the first leg of the final, there was still an opinion that the team from the land of the Golden Pagoda was more evenly matched than coach Kim Sang-sik’s team.

That comment is probably… not wrong. The current playing style of the Vietnamese team depends greatly on Xuan Son. It’s hard to imagine if Xuan Son got injured, got a penalty card or was “caught to death” by his opponent, what would the Vietnamese team look like?

Just know that this has not happened yet. Xuan Son still shined brightly in the first leg final on the evening of January 2 at Viet Tri Stadium. He scored 2 goals to help the Vietnamese team lead 2-1 against Thailand before the second leg of the final took place.

It’s not that Thai people don’t know Xuan Son is dangerous, but even though they know they still can’t stop it. The final return match between the two teams Vietnam and Thailand on January 5, at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, will still be a competition between Xuan Son and the Thai team’s defense. But this time, it is likely that Xuan Son will have more effective support from satellites around him. Together they will bring the Vietnamese team to the highest goal at the AFF Cup 2024.