Vietnam's Olympic team could still face South Korea in the round of 16.
Having secured first place in Group D with a perfect 9 points, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team are eagerly awaiting to know the identity of their next opponent in the knockout round of the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.
Therefore, the opponent of Coach Park Hang-seo's team will be the third-placed team with the best record in one of the three groups B, E, or F. The identity of Vietnam's Olympic team's opponent in the Round of 16 of this year's ASIAD can be predicted right now.
Table B
|
| The standings in Group B after 3 matches. |
Currently, the situation in Group B is settled, with the Thai Olympic team in third place with 2 points and a goal difference of -1. In Groups E and F, there is still one final matchday left to play.
In the probability calculation of Vietnam's Olympic team's opponent in the round of 16, there is only a 1 in 15 chance that Vietnam will face Thailand from Group B, while there are 7 chances each of facing a team from Groups E and F.
|
| The Vietnamese Olympic team is likely to face the team ranked third in Group E or F. |
Therefore, even though Thailand in Group B might be one of the four best third-placed teams, the probability of Coach Park's team having to face the representative from the land of the golden temples is very low.
Table FIn Group F, Olympic Iran and Saudi Arabia have already secured their places in the next round with 4 points each after 2 matches, while Myanmar and North Korea both have only 1 point and the same goal difference of -3.
|
| The standings in Group F after two rounds of matches. |
The remaining two matches are Iran vs. Myanmar and Saudi Arabia vs. North Korea. A defeat for either West Asian team could see them drop in the rankings, potentially facing unfavorable opponents in the next round. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that Myanmar and North Korea will win against Iran and Saudi Arabia.
If Myanmar and North Korea lose, they will only have 1 point and will certainly be eliminated from the tournament.
However, if the match ends in a draw, Myanmar and North Korea will have 2 points, but a goal difference of -3 will still result in elimination because currently there are 3 third-placed teams (Indonesia, UAE, and Pakistan) with 3 points, while Olympic Thailand in Group B also has 2 points but a better goal difference (-1).
Table EIn Group E, Olympic Malaysia, with 6 points, has already secured a place in the knockout round, finishing top of the group and will face Olympic Japan.
|
| The standings in Group E after two rounds of matches. |
All three remaining teams – South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, and Bahrain – have the potential to finish third in this group and advance to the next round.
In the next match, if they unexpectedly win against Malaysia and South Korea respectively, Bahrain or Kyrgyzstan could be the next opponent for the Vietnamese Olympic team. Bahrain has a good chance of advancing in this year's ASIAD as their opponent, Malaysia, has already completed their group stage duties and doesn't need to worry about the next match.
Another likely scenario is that if Kyrgyzstan draws with South Korea while Bahrain fails to beat Malaysia, the group standings will remain unchanged, meaning Kyrgyzstan will face Vietnam in the first knockout round.
Conversely, Van Quyet and his teammates' opponent would be the South Korean Olympic team if the South Korean team loses to Kyrgyzstan and Bahrain fails to beat Malaysia.
Based on the above calculations, the most likely opponent for the Vietnamese Olympic team is a team from Group E. Although Coach Park wants to avoid facing his home country's team early on, the possibility of the Vietnamese Olympic team having to face South Korea from the Round of 16 cannot be ruled out.
