Defeating Vietnam, Thailand won the AFF Cup 2022 championship

Tien Linh tried his best but the proactive defense of the opponent prevented him from scoring a goal in this match. Photo: Hai Hoang

The 2-2 draw at My Dinh Stadium made the return match between Vietnam and Thailand difficult. To reach the top position, coach Park Hang-seo and his team must win or draw with a score of 3-3 or more.

However, Mr. Park's team has defeated their opponents in the King's Cup right in Thailand. This will be a great mental support to help the Vietnamese team overcome the pressure in front of thousands of fans in the land of the Golden Temple.

Hoang Duc and his teammates could not surprise the opponent's defense. Photo: Hai Hoang

Besides, thousands of Vietnamese fans did not stay at home to prepare for the traditional New Year, but decided to go to Thailand to cheer on coach Park Hang-seo's students. This will be an effective spiritual medicine to help the red-shirt army overcome the high mountain called Thailand to step up to the pinnacle of glory.

In the second leg of the final, Coach Park Hang-seo renewed the squad compared to the first leg, with many changes. In defense, Viet Anh and Thanh Binh were given opportunities from the start. Van Thanh started instead of Tan Tai. In midfield, Tuan Anh replaced Quang Hai while Van Duc started from the start in the forward line.

As expected, the Thai team proactively pushed up, putting pressure right from the start. However, under the command of Que Ngoc Hai, the Vietnamese team's defense covered each other quite tightly. This made it impossible for Theerathon and his teammates to approach Van Lam's goal. On the contrary, Vietnam was the team that had the first dangerous situation in the 7th minute of the match. From the smooth handling on the right wing of coach Park Hang-seo's students, Hoang Duc dribbled the ball smoothly and quickly, overcoming the Thai defense. However, the midfielder playing for Viettel's final shot went out of Kampon's goal.

Just a few minutes later, Tien Linh made Vietnamese fans regret again. From a cross from his teammate, Tien Linh jumped up to hook the ball, but the ball was too light, not causing any trouble for goalkeeper Kampon.

Quang Hai entered the field but did not bring much change to Vietnam's attacking style of play. Photo: Hai Hoang

Thailand did not create many chances to get close to Van Lam's goal, but surprisingly opened the score in the 24th minute. Theerathon rushed from the second line after Adisak's pass, then launched a decisive, dangerous kick that Van Lam could not block even though he jumped as far as he could.

After conceding the goal, coach Park Hang-seo decided to put Quang Hai on the field to replace Tuan Anh. However, Thailand's ability to connect between the lines was too good, so Quang Hai did not have much of the ball to create for his teammates. Besides, with even technical qualities, Mr. Polking's students performed many effective combinations. This was a big obstacle that prevented the Vietnamese team from having much time to control the ball to launch attacks.

In the second half, with the task of scoring 2 goals against the opponent, coach Park Hang-seo asked his players to increase the attack tempo and put pressure on Kampon's goal. Tien Linh, Quang Hai, Van Thanh made many flexible moves without the ball. However, with the ability to maintain a reasonable formation distance of the Thai players, very little space was created in front of Kampon's goal.

Unable to get close to the opponent's goal, the Vietnamese team took the initiative to shoot from afar to create surprises. In the 58th minute, Hoang Duc received the ball from midfield, after using his speed to overcome the opponent's defense, he kicked with his left foot, but unfortunately the ball went wide of Kampon's goal.

The Vietnamese team does not have effective attacking plans. Photo: Hai Hoang

In order to change the situation, coach Park Hang-seo decided to take a gamble by taking Van Thanh off the field and replacing him with Thanh Chung. With that substitution, the Vietnamese team will play in a 3-4-3 formation. However, with many high-class players, Thailand will not be put in a passive position, even though the home team plays a defensive game with a large number of players.

In the final minutes of the match, although the Vietnamese team tried hard to organize an attack, the haste in the final passes prevented Coach Park's students from creating significant opportunities to score against Kampon's goal.

The home team won the match 1-0. The total score after 2 matches was 3-2 in favor of Thailand. With this result, Thailand officially won the AFF Cup 2022 championship.

Coach Park Hang-seo's incomplete farewell day. Photo: Hai Hoang

This result made coach Park Hang-seo’s farewell to the Vietnamese team not really complete. However, many fans still expressed their deep gratitude to the Korean coach for what he has done for Vietnamese football./.