Vietnamese strikers are losing their advantage in the AFF Cup top scorer race

In addition to Shawal Anuar, who has 4 goals and leads the top scorer list, there are currently 3 players who scored 3 goals at the AFF Cup 2024. All 3 strikers who scored 3 goals are Thai, including Patrik Gustavsson , Suphanat Mueanta and Teerasak Poeiphimai.

Also up to now, there are 7 players who have scored 2 goals, including Muhammad Ferarri (Indonesia), Faris Ramli (Singapore), Paulo Josue (Malaysia), Joao Pedro (Timor Leste), Win Naing Tun (Myanmar), Ben Davis and Seksan Ratree (both from Thailand). Meanwhile, no striker from the Vietnamese team has scored more than 1 goal.

The fact that the Vietnamese team’s lineup has been unstable since the beginning of the tournament has had a significant impact on the strikers’ goal scoring. For example, Nguyen Van Toan had too little playing time, mainly only entering the field at the end of each match. Therefore, Van Toan has not scored any more goals, after conceding the Lao team’s goal on the opening day.

As for Tien Linh, he played more than Van Toan, but not so much that he accelerated in the race to the top scorer title. Particularly in the match against the Philippines on the evening of December 18, Tien Linh was brought on the field too late, while the person who replaced him in the highest position in the striker line, Dinh Thanh Binh, was very weak.

Furthermore, the fact that many pillars of the Vietnamese team rarely play together: when Quang Hai plays, Hoang Duc is on the bench, when Tien Linh enters the field, Quang Hai is not on the field, Van Toan and Tuan Hai are invited. It only appears occasionally, causing the Vietnamese team’s coordination to lack smoothness, so the strikers rarely receive good passes from the satellites around them, to have more scoring opportunities.

Regarding this issue, former coach of the Vietnamese team, Mr. Phan Thanh Hung commented: “Players like Quang Hai, Hoang Duc, Tien Linh, Tuan Hai, Van Toan… not only have a lot of experience in international competition, but They played together for quite a long time, they understood each other and cooperated better. Once the Vietnamese team stabilizes its lineup, we can completely change our appearance in the near future.”

Coach Kim Sang-sik probably also realized this, after his unsuccessful tests for the Vietnamese team in the match against the Philippines. From the match against Myanmar on December 21, it is likely that the Vietnamese team will change, more pillars will appear, and our squad will be better. At that time, the strikers will have more opportunities to score goals, so they can return to the track of winning the top scorer title.

In addition, also from the match against Myanmar on December 21, the Vietnamese team will have naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son. In theory, after adding this striker, coach Kim Sang-sik’s team will significantly increase their goal-scoring ability.