ASEAN Cup 2024: Vietnam - Thailand 'fated' final

Regional football has once again seen two "dream finals" between two fateful rivals Vietnam and Thailand after both teams failed in the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup and had to return to seek glory in the familiar regional tournament.

However, things will not be smooth or easy for the team that has won the regional football championship 7 times, the Thai National Team (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2020 and 2022).

Due to the schedule and group stage results ofASEAN Cup 2024, The Vietnamese team got a favorable result after winning the ticket, a 3-day recovery and preparation break compared to their opponent Thailand who only had 1 day before the first leg of the final (January 2, 2025). Not only that, Thailand had to go through 120 tiring minutes against the physically strong Philippines team in the second leg of the semi-final, so everything will certainly be significantly affected.

For this reason, many people have "advised" Mr. Kim Sang-sik, the general idea is to concentrate all their efforts to win the first leg, creating an unbeatable advantage against the Thai opponent in the second leg. This is probably due to the fact that when playing the second leg of the final on the Thai field, Quang Hai and his teammates will certainly face countless difficulties and challenges.

Even though it was a lucky narrow win against the Philippines, everyone understood that the Thai players played a truly classy match against a formidable opponent. So whatever one says, the Vietnamese team has long been afraid of the Thais, now looking at the recent reality, they should gradually become more "afraid", like the threat of Japanese head coach Ishii or Thai defender Chalermsak?

Before any important match, it is not new for coaches or players to "wind up their spirits" and threaten their opponents. But the two finals of the ASEAN Cup 2024 will have many new things, at least fromVietnam teamfor Thai opponent.

Right after the second leg of the semi-final, midfielder Tien Dung of the Vietnam National Team frankly said that he “liked playing against Thailand in the final” - something that few players have dared to say. Is it possible that the current strength and power of the Vietnam National Team allows the players to be confident enough to be ready to face the biggest opponent in the region?

The actual performance of Thailand and Vietnam in the group stage and semi-finals gives different opinions, in which it is clear that the Thais have conceded 5 goals (while Vietnam has only conceded 3 goals so far), which is proof that the Thai defense has problems. When facing the Vietnamese team with strikers like Xuan Son and Tien Linh, the Thais should know that "it is better to be afraid gradually"!

Through 6 matches from the group stage until now, the Vietnam team has started with 6 different lineups and coach Kim Sang-sik and his team only encountered difficulties on the artificial turf field against the Philippines. And although they could not avoid injuries and losses, the Vietnam team, thanks to rotation and reasonable deployment of troops, still ensured all requirements set out in the 2 final matches. Moreover, since Xuan Son was allowed to play, the spirit and strength of the Vietnam team have been clearly multiplied. Solidarity, unity, and mutual sharing have been highly promoted.

The current problem of the Vietnam team is to distribute the force to ensure a big win at Viet Tri Stadium and have enough resources for the extremely difficult return match on away field. The multifaceted advantage in the first leg of the final must be promoted to the highest level, most effectively possible and the will to fight to the end must be maintained until the last minute in the return final, which means there needs to be short-term and long-term calculations.

Obviously, the current Thai team does not have the strongest force, and has shown difficulties throughout the competition, but they still have the full strength of a top-class team in the region. This team always knows how to overcome specific difficulties with specific methods and people, such as the case of entering the field at the end of the match to make the victory of "child prodigy" Supanat in the second leg of the semi-final.

But it must also be said that the Vietnam Team also knows how to gain advantages for itself, has enough strength to direct and the strength to deploy moves that make the opponent unable to react, to truly prove that, after 2 "dream finals", it is not yet known "who is afraid of whom". And hopefully the goal of winning the 3rd regional football championship of the Vietnam Team will become a reality, continuing the glory of 2008 and 2018./.