AFF Cup 2018 Semi-Finals: 5 Highlights at Panaad Stadium

1.Mind game. Coach Sven Goran-Eriksson and Coach Park Hang-seo showed their talent at Panaad Stadium. The Korean coach ended the Philippines' 2-year unbeaten streak at home. Meanwhile, the Swedish coach also helped the Philippines score their first goal in the AFF Cup semi-finals after 3 defeats, despite having only 18 players and conceding first.

The two coaches did not hide their playing style, which made the audience excited to see how they deployed their troops in 90 minutes. If coach Park Hang-seo was steadfast with the 3-4-3 tactical formation and with the introduction of Huy Hung at the end of the match, it turned into a 5-3-2, then Sven Goran-Eriksson withdrew center-back Carli De Murga to switch from 4-4-2 to 3-4-3 to attack and equalize.

Vietnam's defense has revealed mistakes. Photo: Internet

The victory was in favor of the away team because Anh Duc and Van Duc were better than Phil Younghusband and Patrick Reichelt in finishing even though they did not have more possession of the ball than their opponents. Although they wanted to play pressing, the personnel at hand did not allow coach Sven Goran-Eriksson to maintain that. However, he was also successful when using Phil Younghusband as a "decoy".

2.Veteran: Phil Younghusband, 31 years old, has played for the Philippines national team for a total of 12 years. He is the captain, the soul and the legend of "Azkals" football with a record of 51 goals in 101 appearances. In this AFF Cup, he scored 1 goal and assisted Patrick Reichelt to equalize against goalkeeper Van Lam. In total, in 5 AFF Cups, the player who was an excellent student of Chelsea Football Academy has scored 6 goals.

Anh Duc - the "veteran" is 33 years old this year, has experienced enough bitterness with the U23 team, the Vietnam national team. Joining the national team since the time of coach A.Riedl, Calisto and domestic coaches such as Phan Thanh Hung, Hoang Van Phuc, Nguyen Huu Thang, but only Mr. Park saw his hidden potential.

3 goals at AFF Cup 2018 is truly a worthy reward for the captain of B.Binh Duong. If the home team is eliminated, surely center back Alvaro Silva will remember Anh Duc a lot for his unbelievable header from such a distance to score.

Both veterans are exemplary players of Philippine and Vietnamese football. They are doing a good job of inspiring their teammates on the field and directly participating in creating and scoring goals.

3.Right Wing (VN):It is not by chance thatCoach Sven Goran-Eriksson moved right-back Martin Steuble to play on the left flank with midfielder Stephan Schrock. This attack on the flanks made Trong Hoang both the one who assisted Van Duc to score, and the one who made the mistake of conceding the goal that allowed Phil Younghusband to escape.

If Patrick Reichelt had done better in the cross of midfielder Stephan Schrock, things would have been worse. Fortunately, midfielder D.Sato (11) and fullback S.Palla (25) have returned to their clubs and will not play in this match.

Goalkeeper Van Lam just set a record of 405 minutes without a clean sheet. Photo: Internet

4.Defender:Central defender duoCarli De Murga and Alvaro Silva both made serious mistakes in the two goals conceded when the Vietnamese full-backs exploited the space behind them with high balls. At 1.87m tall but with poor positioning, Alvaro Silva became a “clown on the field” right from the start of the match, causing difficulties for the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Duy Manh and Que Ngoc Hai showed confusion when being pressed by the opponent. Duy Manh's high attack was discovered and punished by coach Sven Goran-Eriksson. Ngoc Hai let Patrick Reichelt escape many times, the vertical and horizontal connection of the defense line is shaky.

5.Record: The Vietnam national football team still set a new record for the Southeast Asian football tournament after 18 years of existence, keeping the home net intact for the longest time in the history of the tournament. This record belongs to the senior generation of the current Vietnam national football team with the achievement of 399 minutes of keeping a clean sheet, which was set at the Tiger Cup 2000. Coach Park Hang-seo's students kept a clean sheet for 405 minutes, including 360 minutes in the group stage and 45 minutes in the semi-final match against the Philippines national football team recently.

The Philippines team also made their mark by scoring in the first semi-final round in 10/11 AFF Cup tournaments, with Patrick Reichelt being the one to have that honor. The three times they reached the AFF Cup semi-finals, they all came up empty-handed without scoring a single goal.