AFF Cup 2018: Numbers, thoughts and lingering memories

750 thousand spectators

With just a small change in the AFF home and away match regulations, the total number of spectators at the 2018 AFF Cup doubled compared to the previous two years (750,000 and 320,000). It has been a long time since people have seen the atmosphere of a football festival in stadiums full of spectators such as Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium (Cambodia), Rajamangala Stadium (Thailand), Bikit Jalil Stadium (Malaysia), My Dinh Stadium (Vietnam), Kallang Stadium (Singapore).

Vietnam team is not only championAFF Cup that we have truly raised the stature of our country's football.Photo: Trung Kien

Many international journalists who witnessed the heated atmosphere at Bikit Jalil Stadium and My Dinh Stadium had to admit that the passionate love of football of the Malaysian and Vietnamese people is a valuable asset for developing this sport.

After the 2018 AFF Cup, it seems that the football map of Southeast Asia has been redrawn. After 12 tournaments since the 1996 Tiger Cup, the championship has not yet “slipped out of reach” of the top 4 teams: Thailand (5 times), Singapore (4 times), Vietnam (2 times) and Malaysia (1 time).

But football fans all noticed the impressive return of Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam in different directions. These three teams, along with Thailand and Malaysia, seem to have separated from the remaining 5 teams (Cambodia, Laos, Timor Leste, Myanmar and AFF Cup 2014 runner-up Indonesia).

Of the 10 participating teams, only 3 teams used domestic coaches, namely Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Of these, new coach Bima Sakti of Indonesia left disappointment when he failed to take the runner-up team past the group stage, while coach Tan Cheng Hoe of Malaysia did a very good job.

Unable to surpass Vietnam due to the uniformity and excellence of Quang Hai and the Vietnamese players, under the guidance of the Korean coach, Malaysia is a team with a future.

Southeast Asian Football Picture

Although they did not pass the group stage, coach Fandi Ahmad's father and son showed progress at the tournament.AFF Cup 2018. Singapore's attacking tactics are more diverse and attractive.

The reason they lost to coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's team was because the preparation time was too short, there was no time to practice the necessary cohesion in decisive moments.

CoachTan Cheng Hoe, the local coach, reached the final.Photo: Trung Kien

There were 7 foreign coaches working at the AFF Cup 2018, but coach Antoine Hey of the Myanmar team was fired before the tournament ended. The ASEAN Football Federation still maintains a view that the team's failure is mainly due to incompetent coaches. This time, coach Antoine Hey is the "victim", despite the Myanmar players' ability.

Coming to the Philippines team 12 days before the opening of the AFF Cup 2018, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who led the England team to the quarterfinals of 2 World Cups, only managed to bring home third place.

But the Swedish coach gave the Filipino people a sense of joy when he scored his first goal in the AFF Cup semi-finals. Especially when the opponent later became the champion of this tournament, a wonderful feeling.

With the Thai team of Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac only getting third place, it means defeat. It can be explained that they could not successfully defend the championship because they did not have 4 key players at the AFF Cup 2018, but that does not mean underestimating the rise of Malaysia and Vietnam. The Thais have rivals in the region, the time of making waves is over.

With the generation of Zaquan Adha brothers and veteran Talaha, coach Tan Cheng Hoe could not win the AFF Cup championship for the second time, but young players like Safawi and Syahmi Safari showed potential and prospects.

The runner-up position is a worthy result for Malaysian football and if invested, they will also be a significant force in Southeast Asian football. The Malaysian team is showing attractive attacking football, if they are more effective in the finishing phase, it will be great.

Coach Park has won the first championship in his coaching career. Photo: Trung Kien

People will be surprised that Mr. Park Hang-seo, assistant coach of the Korean national team, contributed to bringing his home team to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup, but this is only the first championship in his coaching career.

The Vietnam team not only won the AFF Cup but we have truly raised the stature of our country's football. We know who we are and what we must do to develop.

Most of the champions of the Vietnamese team are very young andMr. Park Hang-seo has opened up more of their professional limits. A bright future for Vietnamese football is ahead!