Vietnam vs. Thailand Final, Second Leg: Will History Repeat Itself?
At 8 PM on January 5th, at the Rajamangala Stadium, coach Kim Sang-sik's team will face the Thai national team in the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 final.
Striker Nguyen Xuan SonAnd his teammates will enter the second leg of the final in high spirits. Their goal during their visit to Thailand is to achieve a favorable result (from a draw to a win) at the Rajamangala Stadium. This is no easy task for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team.
It can be confidently stated that the Thai team will be more dangerous than they were in the first leg of the final. Playing at their home ground, Rajamangala Stadium, will give Supachok Sarachat and his teammates extra strength. In this tournament, coach Masatada Ishii's team has a perfect winning record at their home stadium.
Specifically, the Thai team successively defeated the East Timor team (10-0), the Malaysian team (1-0), and the Philippine team (3-1). This achievement by coach Masatada Ishii's team is only surpassed by the Vietnamese team, which has had four absolute victories at Viet Tri Stadium, among which the Thai team was defeated.
Besides the home advantage, the Thai team will also have their strongest lineup, despite the absence of striker Teerasak Poeiphimai due to injury. It's worth remembering that in the first leg of the final at Viet Tri Stadium, the brothers Supachok Sarachat and Suphanat Mueanta only came on in the 61st minute, when the "War Elephants" were already trailing 1-0.
In the match on the evening of January 5th, coach Masatada Ishii will field his strongest lineup, including Ekanit Panya, Supachok Sarachat, Suphanat Mueanta, Ben Davis, and captain Peeradon Chamratsamee. With these top players available, the Thai national team will be a formidable opponent.
The 1-2 defeat in the first leg of the final hasn't significantly impacted coach Masatada Ishii's team's chances of defending their title. It's likely that the Thai team will play offensively from the start in an attempt to score, similar to their second leg semi-final against the Philippines.
Hopefully, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will successfully subdue the "War Elephants" and lift the championship trophy. ASEAN Cup 2024 Right here at the Rajamangala Stadium, many Vietnamese football fans are thinking back to the first leg of the 2008 ASEAN Cup final, where the Vietnamese team defeated host nation Thailand 2-1.
Will history repeat itself?
