Forbes predicts Vietnam will be the 'dark horse' of the 2019 Asian Cup.

In a magazine's review of the 2019 Asian Cup.ForbesPrice believes Syria, Lebanon, and Vietnam all have the potential to create miracles. "With Iraq's victory at the 2007 Asian Cup, we can expect similar shocks at the continent's premier tournament – ​​taking place in the UAE from January 5th. Syria lost their 2018 World Cup qualification spot to Australia by one goal. They will have a chance to get revenge as they are in the same group. Lebanon is not in good form, but they just had a two-year unbeaten streak. And Vietnam enters the tournament with an impressive 18-match unbeaten run, even though most of their previous opponents were weaker," Price assessed.

The Vietnamese national team's most recent defeat was in 2016, against Indonesia in the first leg of the AFF Cup semi-finals. Since then, the team has not lost another match, despite participating in many different tournaments and facing various opponents across the continent such as Taiwan, Afghanistan, Jordan, North Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines... Currently, Coach Park's team holds the longest unbeaten streak in the world. The record for the longest unbeaten streak belongs to Spain (35 matches, from February 7, 2007 to June 20, 2009) and Brazil (35 matches, from February 16, 1993 to January 18, 1996).

Vietnam (in white jerseys) is expected to extend their 18-match unbeaten streak. Photo:VFF.

In the championship race,ForbesThey consider Iran, South Korea, Japan, and Australia to be the strongest contenders.

"Iran has dominated Asian football for the past four years, even recently losing only one match to Spain at the 2018 World Cup. Striker Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan) and Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Brighton) are top-class attacking weapons for coach Carlos Queiroz. But Iran's true strength lies in their defense. They went 12 clean sheets in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers," Price wrote. "If Iran defends tightly, South Korea can be considered a strong attacking force with striker Son Heung-min (Tottenham) in top form. Coach Paulo Bento also builds an attacking style of play with a talented young squad, helping South Korea remain unbeaten in their last seven friendly matches."

The British journalist working in South Korea added: "Japan and Australia will be using young squads, in a period of generational transition. Mile Jedinak and Tim Cahill have retired from international football, while Aaron Mooy is absent due to injury. Australia will have to rely on Tom Rogic or Massimo Luongo. Japan also did not call up Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa, and Shinji Okazaki, instead giving the stage to Yoshinori Muto and Yuya Osako. Ritsu Doan is also a young talent expected to shine for Japan at the 2020 Olympics on home soil."

The 2019 Asian Cup took place from January 5th to February 1st in the UAE. 24 teams were divided into 6 groups of 4 teams each, playing a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group and the four best third-placed teams advanced to the Round of 16.

At the Asian Cup, Vietnam is in Group D, facing Iraq (January 8), Iran (January 12), and Yemen (January 16).