Indonesia-Vietnam: Lessons from the past and from... Thailand

The Vietnamese team can be said to have enough advantages to reach the final match, and may even win the championship if luck is on their side. "A good start leads to a good finish," as the old saying goes. But there's also another saying: "Bad beginnings, good endings," which seems more accurate for Vietnamese football in the past and present.

History is a mirror for reference, not a decisive factor. Many experts have offered suggestions, and the Vietnamese media, following the team, have even pointed out weaknesses, but only those involved truly know what needs to be done and how.

Who has ever won without ever experiencing defeat?

The first and only time Vietnamese football reached the pinnacle of Southeast Asian football was at the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup, where we suffered a crushing 0-2 defeat in our opening match against host nation Thailand in Phuket. It was a peculiar tournament, a once-in-a-decade event, where Thailand, with a squad of top players at their peak, seemed poised to easily claim the title again. However, it wasn't until later that Thailand's star player, Datsakorn Thonglao, admitted that their defeat to Vietnam in the final was due to internal divisions within the team.

“Coach Peter Reid was truly provided with the best players in football, but we still couldn't build a strong team?! There were too many strong personalities in the team, including both rising stars and remaining veterans. In many matches, we weren't playing for each other or for the common good. One of the clearest examples was the loss to Vietnam at Rajamangala in the first leg of the final. We felt a lot of regret. Regardless, that was a period when Thai football went through a lot of upheaval,” the former captain of the Thai national team shared.

According to Thonglao, the star at the time was playing for HAGL, and the Thai Premier League, which had just been created (2007), was met with skepticism, even though it replaced the previous Thai League, which had been suspended due to a widespread crisis, so the feeling of uncertainty was real.

“We tried to rectify the situation in the second leg of the final at My Dinh Stadium, but Cong Vinh's late goal shattered everything. More than half a decade after that painful defeat, Thai football finally recovered,” Thonglao told The Thể thao & Văn hóa (Sports & Culture) newspaper.

"Arrogance leads to defeat," even the true king of Southeast Asian football, Thailand, has suffered numerous defeats, from the SEA Games to the AFF Suzuki Cup, so don't even mention Vietnam. Under Kiatisuk Senamuang's leadership, Thailand no longer adopts a superior attitude when entering matches, even against weaker opponents. And that's why they've been undefeated, since the 2013 SEA Games and through the last two AFF Suzuki Cup tournaments.

Prevention is better than cure…

One of the fears, even obsessions, that constantly haunt Vietnamese football and its national teams when competing in regional tournaments is the specter of negativity. This specter is unpredictable, and it has happened before, not just once, but many times.

Negative practices have infiltrated and affected even the club level, from the V-League to the AFC Cup. This is a common problem in football, especially in lower-level leagues, not just in Vietnam. The organizers of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016 have warned about the possibility of match-fixing, and Sportradar is monitoring the situation very closely…

From a technical standpoint, the Vietnamese team is not without weaknesses, but even the absence of Dinh Luat in the upcoming two semi-final matches is not a problem. Coach Huu Thang has plenty of viable alternative options.

Playing on Indonesia's home ground, with the intense pressure from the stands, is normal, hence the concept of home and away games. The Achilles' heel of the Vietnamese national team, spanning many periods, has been psychological warfare and ideological issues. Spirit is both a strong advantage and a potential weakness if the team's hearts aren't united.

"The 'Wizard' Henrique Calisto once surrendered and never returned when he felt that some players hadn't performed to their full potential at the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. That's the truth, and it was his own players who shared this, not any conflicts arising between the Portuguese coach and VFF officials, as he claims. In dry weather, be careful with fire, because prevention is always better than cure."

According to Thethaovanhoa