Vietnam - Thailand Final Return Leg: Will History Repeat Itself?

Striker Nguyen Xuan Sonand his teammates will enter the second leg of the final with high spirits. Their goal during their visit to the "Land of the Golden Temple" is to achieve a positive result (from a draw to a win) right at Rajamangala Stadium. This is not an easy task for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team.

It can be affirmed that the Thai team will be more dangerous than they were in the first leg of the final. Playing at the "holy land" Rajamangala will give Supachok Sarachat and his teammates more strength. In this tournament, coach Masatada Ishii and his team have a perfect record of winning at their "den".

Specifically, the Thai team defeated the East Timor team (10-0), the Malaysian team (1-0) and the Philippine team (3-1) in turn. The above achievements of coach Masatada Ishii and his team are only inferior to the Vietnamese team, the team that had 4 absolute victories at Viet Tri Stadium, among the "defeated generals" is the Thai team.

In addition to the home field advantage, the Thai team will also have the strongest squad with the absence of striker Teerasak Poeiphimai, due to injury. Remember, in the first leg final at Viet Tri Stadium, the siblings Supachok Sarachat - Suphanat Mueanta only entered the field in the 61st minute, when the "war elephants" were already behind with a score of 1 - 0.

In the match on the evening of January 5, coach Masatada Ishii will use the strongest lineup with the presence of Ekanit Panya, Supachok Sarachat, Suphanat Mueanta, Ben Davis and captain Peeradon Chamratsamee. With the service of the best "cards", the Thai team will be a very formidable opponent.

The 1-2 defeat in the first leg of the final has not affected the chances of defending the title of coach Masatada Ishii and his team too much. It is likely that the Thai team will play aggressively from the start to look for goals, similar to the second leg of the semi-final against the Philippines.

Hopefully, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will successfully defeat the "war elephants" and lift the championship trophy. ASEAN Cup 2024 right at Rajamangala Stadium. Many Vietnamese football fans are thinking about the first leg final of the ASEAN Cup 2008, where the Vietnamese team defeated the host team Thailand with a score of 2 - 1.

Will history repeat itself?