Vietnam and Malaysia teams: Who will play as the 'upper hand'?

Before going to Hanoi, playing the third consecutive match with the Vietnam national team in less than a year, central defender Shahrul Saad expressed his excitement: "But there is nothing to be afraid of when coming to Hanoi because we are familiar with the atmosphere there. We know they are a strong team. We are eager to face the Vietnam national team."

"The top door" is dirty

32-year-old defender Aidil Zafuan has played 82 matches for Malaysia and scored 3 goals. Photo: VPF

The common point of the two matches at My Dinh Stadium is that Coach Tan Chang-Hoe's players controlled the ball more than the home team. In the group stage of the AFF Cup 2018, the Malaysian team held the ball 69% of the time, with 622 passes (Vietnam only had 292), while in the final match, this rate was 58%, with 457 passes (Vietnam only had 339).

So, Mr. Tan Chang-Hoe and the Malaysian team's coaching staff must have a battle of wits with Mr. Park Hang-seo on whether or not to hold the ball and pass so much when playing away. The reality is that Mr. Park always finds for the Vietnamese team a player with the ability to stretch, speed and quality assists when facing Malaysia.

In the 3 goals scored at My Dinh Stadium at the AFF Cup 2018, Quang Hai, Van Duc, and Anh Duc were the ones who assisted. Thus, the attacking players of the Vietnam National Team, in addition to the task of scoring goals, can also perform the task of assisting well. This helps the central midfielders reduce the attacking task, avoiding going too high and exposing their flanks.

The common feature of the 2 wins is that we scored quite early, in the group stage, Cong Phuong opened the score in the 11th minute. In the final, veteran Anh Duc scored in the 6th minute. Losing early will make it much more difficult for the Malaysian players to play, helping the Vietnamese team to play their signature counter-attacks.

Under coach Park, the Vietnamese players entered the game faster. Even when playing away, after 25 minutes, we had 2 goals right at Bukit Jalil, and in the 2 matches at My Dinh, we played high pressing right from the start.

Mr. Tan called for reinforcements.

Midfielder 24 Abdul Halim Saari (No. 18) is a mainstay of Selangor, currently ranked 3rd in the Malaysian Premier League. Photo: Selangor Club

It seems that Mr. Tan discovered something new about the Vietnam team's training before the match, so he surprisingly added two more players, midfielder Abdul Halim Saari and center-back Aidil Zafuan, to this training session. In particular, Aidil Zafuan is considered one of the veteran defenders of Malaysian football, currently playing for Johor Darul Ta'zim, the team leading the Malaysian Premier League table.

Aidil Zafuan previously announced his retirement from international football, but then agreed to continue playing for Malaysia. The 32-year-old defender has played 82 times for Malaysia, scoring three goals. Aidil also performed well in the most recent match against Terengganu, and it seems that Mr Tan needs this player as a moral leader for the team in the decisive match.

Meanwhile, 24-year-old central midfielder Abdul Halim Saari is a mainstay of Selangor, currently ranked 3rd in the Malaysian Premier League. The strength of the player who has played 19/22 times for Selangor is his ability to intercept and organize attacks like Dang Anh Tuan of SHB.Da Nang.

“We need to improve our midfield strength. We know Vietnam is a strong team, especially in defense. Therefore, Malaysia needs more players to help in the midfield and put pressure on the opponent's defense," said the head coach of the Malaysian team.

According to Malaysian press analysis, Mr. Tan Chang-Hoe saw the need to add a player to the midfield who could stop the "explosive" of the Vietnam team, a player who would be the bridge to change from defense to attack. The away team saw the danger of Van Toan, with his sprints along the right flank with Trong Hoang.

This is the first time Abdul Halim Saari, who is on the same team as Nguyen Michal (former player of B.Binh Duong) has been called up to the Malaysian national team. This player is expected to be deployed in the friendly match against Sri Lanka on October 5, before flying to Hanoi to prepare for the match against the Vietnamese team at My Dinh Stadium 5 days later.

Surely, Mr. Park will have a new strategy to confront Mr. Tan. This is a match that everyone wants to win, but in the end, only one person will be smiling after the match ends. Will Mr. Tan continue to play like the "top dog" and redeem himself from defeat like the two times before leaving My Dinh Stadium?