Philippines and Vietnam: Who will break the "three no's"?

So which team will break the "three no's" in the first leg of the semi-final between the Philippines and Vietnam?

Philippinesnever lose at home

The last time the Philippines had to face defeat at home was on November 25, 2016. At that time, in the final match of the AFF Cup 2016 group stage, the Philippines lost to Thailand at home with a score of 0-1 thanks to the only goal in the 81st minute by Sarawut Masuk.

The Philippine Inquirer newspaper has placed all its hopes on captain Phil Younghusband. Photo: AFF

That defeat saw the Azkals, as the home team, finish the group stage of the AFF Cup 2016 with only 2 points and fail to qualify for the semi-finals. Since then, the Philippines has not lost any matches when playing on their “holy land”.

In 2017, the Philippines played a total of 3 home matches. The result was a 0-0 draw with Malaysia in a friendly on March 27, a 2-2 draw with Yemen (in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers on September 5) and a 4-1 win against Nepal (in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers on March 28).

Since the beginning of 2018, The Azkals have also played 4 home matches and achieved important results with 3 wins: 3-2 against Fiji (in a friendly match on March 22), 2-1 against Tajikistan (Asian Cup 2019 qualifier on March 27).

Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson took over the team and had 1 win and 1 draw at home. That was a 1-0 victory over Singapore (AFF Cup 2018 group stage on November 13) and 1 draw: 1-1 with Thailand (AFF Cup 2018 group stage on November 21). Thus, in the past 2 years, the Philippines has had an unbeaten record when playing at home with 4 wins and 3 draws.

Who will "turn nothing into something"?

By the end of the 2018 AFF Cup group stage, after 4 matches, the Vietnamese team had scored 8 goals and not conceded any. But recently, before the semi-final match, captain Phil Younghusband declared: "I want to score against the Vietnamese team myself." The Azkals players believe that the talent of Mr. Sven-Goran Eriksson will help them become the first team in the AFF Cup to do so after scoring 2 goals against Singapore and Thailand.

Without hiding anything, Mr. Sven-Goran Eriksson declared that he will defeat Vietnam in air combat. Photo: AFF

Apart from the audience and the Philippine players, not many people believe that based on historical statistics and the current form and number of players of The Azkals team. Up to the AFF Cup 2018, the Philippine team had participated in 10/11 tournaments and only reached the semi-finals 3 times (2010, 2012, 2014).

After 540 minutes of play in the past 6 semi-finals, the Philippines players have not even scored a goal against their opponents. This is the 4th time that the Philippines has reached the semi-finals and they are waiting to see if the reputation of coach Sven-Goran Eriksson can do anything new?

Vietnam are currently unbeaten, while the Philippines have not won in their last three semi-final appearances, and have not lost at home in the last two years. Will these “no’s” be broken, or will it be another goalless draw?