'Decoding' Vietnam's potential opponents in the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2018

The Philippine Football Federation decided to “build the house from the roof” when it signed a contract with famous coach Sven-Goran Eriksson 12 days before the opening of the 2018 AFF Cup. The Swedish coach did not even have enough time to remember the names of the players, let alone build the style of play for the Philippines. But the match against Thailand showed that he deserves to be a famous coach with a salary of 80,000 USD/month.

Build a house from the roof

Hardly any Filipino home fans can remember the last time the Azkals (meaning street dogs) - the nickname of the Philippine team - defeated the "war elephants". Because it was 1972, 46 years ago.

Another worrying statistic for the Philippines is that they have never beaten Thailand in the AFF Cup. The best result the Philippines have achieved was a 0-0 draw against Thailand in the home match in the semi-finals of the 2014 AFF Cup.

Line-up of Thailand and Philippines. Photo: Internet

With many years of experience in coaching, Mr. Sven-Goran Eriksson sat right at the "chessboard" that his Filipino assistants had prepared. He didn't even need to hide the starting lineup and the 4-4-2 tactical formation that would be applied to The Azkals (nickname of the Philippine team) in this tournament.

The Philippines' 1-0 win over Singapore was all about aerial duels and set pieces. Against Singapore, Patrick Reichelt scored from a throw-in. Meanwhile, against Timor Leste, two of their three goals came from direct free kicks.

Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson seems to have "not had time" to teach his players defensive tactics, so despite scoring 3 goals first, Timor Leste still conceded 2 goals at the end of the match. However, Thailand head coach Rajevac still showed respect for his colleague:

"This is definitely an important match for both sides, because whoever wins will advance to the semi-finals. We expected it to be a tough match, so the whole team was mentally prepared and focused. Eriksson is a good and experienced coach."

He emphasized: “At this time, both Thailand and the Philippines have qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup. In my opinion, the upcoming match has many interesting and noteworthy points. In addition, discipline and tightness are definitely put first. The Philippines has home field advantage and they are adapted to the local climate. That is a huge advantage."

Philippines on par with Thailand

Until now, no one knows what the Swedish coach told his players before the match, but the Filipino players played like they were the favorites. The central midfielders Ott (8), Strauss (36) were not afraid of the strikers Sanrawat; Adisak. The Filipino players "tit for tat" in the confrontations, controlling 60% of the time.

Will coach Sven-Goran Eriksson be Park Hang-seo's opponent? Photo: Internet

To limit the technical playing style of the Thai players, Eriksson asked his students to proactively commit fouls from a distance. The number of 19 fouls clearly shows the intention of the coach who is receiving the highest salary in this AFF Cup.

Not the number 1 candidate for the 2018 AFF Cup championship, but the home team had more shots on goal (18 compared to 6) and they had 5 shots on target (Thailand only had 2).

The Azkals under Eriksson also had more passes 518 (Thailand 360) and a pass accuracy rate of 88%, far exceeding Thailand's 78%. Even when conceding the first goal, they still patiently attacked to score an equalizer in the final minutes of the match.

The 1-1 draw helped both Thailand and the Philippines join hands to lead Group B and have a good chance of advancing. This means that Indonesia has officially lost hope of passing the group stage. In the final match, Thailand will host Singapore at home while the Philippines will travel to Indonesia. Will coach Sven-Goran Eriksson be Park Hang-seo's opponent?

An Thanh