6 highlights of the second leg of the AFF Cup 2018 final

1.All roads lead to My Dinh Stadium. Certainly, the AFF Cup 2018 final at My Dinh Stadium is the biggest sporting event this year, or even in the past few years. In a football-crazy country like Vietnam, people regardless of age, gender, age, and gender use everything they have in hand to show their love for the team.

Fans lift the "Golden Cup" at Ho Chi Minh Square. Photo: Thanh Cuong

On the streets of the capital, red flags were shining, people saw tractors and farm workers parading around the streets and people flocking to My Dinh Stadium a few hours before the match. In their hands were the national flag, banners, images of coach Park Hang-seo, Vietnamese players… a true sports festival.

Hanoi is in the early winter cold but the air in the capital and rural areas across the country is getting hotter by the hour.

2. Arbitration. Not the coaches and players of the two teams, but the referee is the most famous person on the field. Mr. Alireza Faghani has won the best referee award in Iran for 3 years (2011, 2015 and 2017) and won the best referee award in Asia in 2016 and 2018.

Since being recognized as a FIFA referee, Alireza Faghani has become the number 1 referee in Asia. He has officiated major matches in Asia, typically the first leg of the 2014 AFC Champions League final and the 2015 Asian Cup final.

Mr. Alireza Faghani won the best referee award in Iran for three years (2011, 2015 and 2017) and the best referee award in Asia in 2016 and 2018. Photo: Trung Kien

In addition, this king of the field also refereed the 2015 Club World Cup final and the 2016 Olympic gold medal match. At the 2018 World Cup, Alireza Faghani refereed 4 matches with 6 of the world's top teams: Brazil, Argentina, France, Belgium, England and Germany (Germany - Mexico; Serbia - Brazil, France - Argentina and Belgium - England).

During his memorable career, Mr. Alireza Faghani has refereed matches with the world's top stars such as Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Mbappe... Alireza Faghani was born on March 21, 1978 in Mashhad, the second most populous city in Iran.

3. Goal.Anh Duc's goal in the 8th minute was a beautiful volley after a delicate pass from Quang Hai. In the first leg, Vietnam had led by two goals in just the first half, but Malaysia equalized 2-2 at Bukit Jalil. Back at home at My Dinh, coach Park Hang-seo made two adjustments, with Hung Dung starting in midfield alongside Huy Hung, and Anh Duc replacing Duc Chinh in the center forward position. And it was this veteran striker who scored the only goal of the match in the 6th minute. "I appreciate Anh Duc's performance today. But the goal came from the combination of the whole team, of all 23 players in the team, not from any individual."

4. Yellow card record. Being a tense final match, and being officiated by the strict FIFA referee Alireza Faghani, the match at My Dinh Stadium set a record for the most yellow cards in the 2018 AFF Cup. Mr. Alireza Faghani issued 11 yellow cards and 1 red card, including 6 yellow cards for the host Vietnam and 5 yellow cards and 1 red card for the away team. The entire Vietnamese defense, except for captain Ngoc Hai, received cards, including goalkeeper Lam "Tay".

Quang Hai is the player who is fouled the most by the opposing team. Photo: Trung Kien

On the Vietnamese side, number 19 Quang Hai was the player fouled the most by the opposing team, and in many situations he had to lie on the field.

5. Best player. Quang Hai was awarded the title of best player of the match. A match in which all Vietnamese players on the field played quite well, but Anh Duc, Quang Hai and goalkeeper Van Lam were the names mentioned most by fans.

Lam "Tay"'s save. Photo: Trung Kien

Quang Hai was the one who assisted Anh Duc to score the only goal of the match. In addition, during the 90 minutes on the field, Quang Hai caused countless difficulties for the opposing team. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Lam "Tay" had a match that frustrated the Malaysian players with simple but very solid ball-catching moves.

6. Park Hang-seo's mark.In a tournament where the opponent never took the lead, the Vietnamese team won 7, drew 1, including 2 victories over Malaysia at My Dinh Stadium.

In the second leg of the final, Mr. Park Hang-seo made Mr. Tan Cheng Hoe convinced. Photo: Trung Kien

In the second leg of the final, Mr. Park Hang-seo convinced Mr. Tan Cheng Hoe with an extremely reasonable style of play. Instead of defending, the Vietnamese team rushed forward to attack and score an early goal, then built a very reasonable defensive formation from a distance. We only needed to hold the ball for 41% of the time but still had a valuable goal.

Not only the Malaysian coaching staff and players, but also regional football must bow down to the Korean coach in his professional decisions and precise substitutions. Coach Park Hang-seo's bringing Luong Xuan Truong onto the field in the final minutes shows the humanity of the Korean coach.