The Vietnamese team confidently went to Singapore, determined to defeat the host in the semi-finals

The Vietnamese team set off with all 26 players, along with team leaders, members of the coaching, logistics and medical staff. Van Toan, who suffered a ligament injury, is still present to continue receiving medical care.

After arriving in Singapore this afternoon, the whole team will rest, then go to the practice field in the afternoon of the same day.

The Vietnamese team will compete with Singapore at 8:00 p.m. on December 26. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team had 3 full days of practice to get used to the weather and field conditions. In particular, the biggest challenge for the whole team is the artificial turf at Jalan Besar stadium of host Singapore.

Initially, coach Tsutomu Ogura’s team registered to play at the Singapore National Stadium with natural grass. However, because this arena will host previously scheduled music events (Korean group 2NE1 on December 21 and 22, and famous Singaporean musician and singer JJ Lin on December 28 and 29), The Singapore team moved to Jalan Besar Stadium to compete.

The artificial turf will bring many difficulties to the Vietnamese team, because the field is harder, the ball bounces and rolls at a very different speed than the natural grass surface. After the 1-1 draw with the Philippines in the fourth round of the group stage, midfielder Doan Ngoc Tan once affirmed that the Vietnamese team is very difficult to play on artificial turf.

On Rizal Memorial Stadium (also artificial turf like Singapore’s Jalan Besar Stadium), the Vietnamese team had to wait until Ngoc Tan’s goal in the 90+7 minute to be able to leave with 1 point.

The last time they competed against Singapore at Jalan Besar (AFF Cup 2022 group stage), the Vietnamese team only had a 0-0 draw.

While the Vietnamese team leads Group B with 10 points, Singapore ranks second in Group A with 7 points. Mr. Ogura and his team won against Timor Leste (3-0) and Cambodia (2-1), drew with Malaysia (0-0) and lost to Thailand (2-4). Singapore’s last time reaching the AFF Cup semi-finals was in 2021, when the lion island nation’s team reached the fourth round of the strongest teams at home.