Continental distance seen from Asian Cup 2023

The team has 4 players playing in Europe, with a fast, close-range, and diverse attacking style of play, winning 2-1 against the top Southeast Asian team, which only has a few stars playing in Japan and 2 tall naturalized central defenders from Europe.

Thus, in this 2023 Asian Cup, regional football has not had any team reach the quarter-finals or further as Thailand and Vietnam have done before. The Thai team set a "record" of being unbeaten in the group stage (1 win, 2 draws), not conceding any goals, but in the round of 16, they could not keep a clean sheet against the sharp attack of the Central Asian team that is playing very well in this continental tournament.

The Indonesian team made it through the group stage for the first time thanks to a victory over arch-rivals Vietnam but quickly came back down to earth after a crushing 0-4 defeat against continental powerhouse Australia. The Malaysian team managed a 3-3 draw against South Korea in the group stage but many people knew that was a way for the Korean team to avoid Japan in the round of 16 (but South Korea faced Saudi Arabia and won 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 2 regular and 2 extra periods). The Vietnamese team lost all 3 group stage matches, conceding 10 goals but scored 4 goals against the 2 "giants" Japan and Iraq...

However, in this tournament, regional football also showed many things worth mentioning in the process of rising and reaching new heights according to different ways of each football foundation. First of all, the Thai team, after regaining the throne in the AFF Cup but not playing successfully in the first matches in the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, found a new "captain", Mr. Ishi, a Japanese who is very knowledgeable about the Thai League.

Thanks to his firm grasp of each player competing domestically and internationally, the Japanese coach quickly connected all the talents in a team with great fighting spirit, tight defense, and flexible attack against all regional and continental opponents. Supachok's goal against Uzbekistan showed his sharpness and effectiveness in attacking against a top opponent on the continent.

The Indonesian team also had moments of explosive play against Iraq in the group stage and Australia in the round of 16, playing domineeringly against the young Vietnamese team in the group stage. Someone said that Indonesia massively naturalized is not wrong, but the effectiveness is what they have initially achieved in this tournament and it is said that there will continue to be 5 players from Europe ready to return home to prepare for the upcoming World Cup 2nd Qualifiers.

But it seems that all the efforts of the top teams in the region such as Thailand, Indonesia or Vietnam have not shown any progress to approach the top teams in the continent. Loss of physique and physical strength is the first sign in the 90-minute confrontations, as seen in the matches between Thailand and Uzbekistan or Indonesia and Australia.

Thailand’s big stars like Therathon, Dolah… could not play well under too much pressure, leading to serious mistakes at decisive moments. The Indonesian naturalized players played with all their might in the first half, then succumbed and lost the match quickly. The young Vietnamese team could only play at their best from time to time, could not maintain stability throughout the matches, and even got overwhelmed, making immature mistakes against their opponents…

Obviously, the continental gap is gradually being shortened thanks to will and new ways of doing things, but that is not enough, not enough in the current context. Although the results have not been as expected, it is clear that Thailand's way of doing things and steps are worth paying attention to and learning from. That is the quality of the Thai League, increasing the number of stars playing in developed football regions of the continent, making reasonable use of domestic and foreign talents, naturalizing quality stars, choosing coaches who understand Thai football... Indonesia's way of doing things is worth mentioning when using a team with good physique and physical strength compared to the region, but eliminating too many domestic stars is also facing heavy criticism.

Meanwhile, prioritizing the young team with little combat experience while "neglecting" the old pillars and lacking understanding of "Vietnamese football culture" is also causing the French coach of the Vietnam National Team to face many difficulties, even facing the risk of being kicked out if he cannot change the situation and the result when meeting Indonesia again in the near future...

Everyone knows that the path to reach out, beyond the region, approaching the top teams in the continent continues to pose many challenges and obstacles after this Asian Cup tournament. Both Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam are having to return to their long-standing positions when they were "kicked" out of the continental tournament early and accept the situation of "learning from other teams", waiting for the next tournaments. It is absolutely not easy to "surpass the ceiling" when even Thailand has worked hard and spent a lot of money for many years but still only made a few insignificant marks.

But after all, sports or football are all about self-improvement, self-discovery of one's own abilities, overcoming one's own limits. Failure is to know all weaknesses, to do it again, to renew, to do it differently, not to give up or to falter or get tired. The race, therefore, will never end. The story will heat up again, or rise again when the Vietnamese team meets the Indonesian team twice in the 2nd qualifying round of the World Cup with so many things to see, to discuss, to wait for. And that is truly the eternal nature of sports, of football, of every "game" in the lowlands or anywhere./.