ASEAN Cup 2024: Home ground obsession

After the first two matches in the group stage, the Thai team andVietnam teamWinning big victories away from home is not surprising. Because, with a force that is rated much higher, victory is inevitable for these championship candidates.

A bit more difficult was Indonesia’s victory in Yangon against the host team Myanmar. It was said to be difficult because Myanmar created many good chances but could not capitalize on them. Meanwhile, Indonesia took advantage of their strong throw-in situation to score the only goal.

Thus, after the first 4 matches, 3 home teams had to accept defeat, the remaining team only got 1 draw. Although this is a commendable draw for the Cambodian team, it is also signaling difficulties for the home teams in this year's tournament.

This was even more evident in the second match. The weak team East Timor, despite losing 10-0 in the previous match, still made the host Malaysia sweat. Taking a 2-1 lead at the end of the first half thanks to two lightning-fast counter-attacks, fighting bravely and only allowing the host to turn the game around in the final minutes of the second half. Those were the impressive features that the East Timor team created at Bukit Jalil.

More impressive than East Timor isLaos team. They drew 3-3 against the Indonesian team at Stadion Manahan. It is worth mentioning that the Elephants team took the lead twice and were completely capable of winning when they had an extra player in the last 25 minutes of the match. However, this 3-3 draw was also a successful result for coach Ha Hyeok-jun and his team. And this is also the biggest surprise up to this point of this year's tournament.

The Philippines team was in the same situation as Indonesia when they were held to a draw by Myanmar at home. The away team still took the lead and the home team struggled to find an equalizer.

The only team that was favored by the home field was probably Singapore. The Lion Island team was lucky when the Cambodian goalkeeper gave them two free goals. Without these two situations, it would have been very difficult for Singapore to win against the rapidly changing Cambodian team.

With the home teams having not played successfully in the recent matches, this will be a warning for the Vietnam team in the upcoming match. Because the first match of coach Kim Sang-sik's team at home will be the match against the Indonesian team.

Although the Indonesian team may not have played well in the last match, coach Shin Tae-yong's team still poses many potential dangers. Especially throw-ins and set pieces. All 4 goals ofIndonesiaare all derived from these strong attacks. Therefore, the Vietnam team will have to come up with plans to block these annoying attacks to be able to achieve good results at Viet Tri stadium.

Although only 2 rounds have passed, the surprises that ASEAN Cup 2024 brings signal an exciting tournament for the audience. And it will also be a lesson for strong teams, championship candidates to learn from in the next matches of this year's tournament.