Waiting for the confrontation between Vietnam and Singapore
With the top position in Group B, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will meet Team Singapore in the semi-finals. The first leg will take place at 8pm on December 26, at Jalan Besar Stadium.
The fact that the Singapore team made it to the top 4 at the ASEAN Cup 2024 has surprised and impressed football fans. Because, coming to this tournament, coach Tsutomu Ogura could not bring some important pillars.
In addition to the absence of the three Fandi Ahmad brothers (Ifan Fandi, Ikhsan Fandi and Ilhan Fandi), the Singapore team also does not have the service of Jacob Mahler. The reason is that they were not allowed to participate by their host clubs.ASEAN Cup 2024.
Objectively speaking, the Singapore team is not rated highly compared to the Thailand and Malaysia teams. Therefore, the chance of coach Tsutomu Ogura and his team to enter the semi-finals is extremely slim.
However, Safuwan Baharudin and his teammates had quite impressive performances. At the end of the group stage, they won 7 points after defeating Cambodia (2-1), East Timor (3-0), drawing with Malaysia (0-0) and losing to Thailand (2-4).
It is known that because the national stadium was busy organizing a music program, the Singapore team had to choose Jalan Besar stadium to welcome the Vietnam team. This was a big obstacle for Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates when they had to compete on an artificial turf field.
Despite having the advantage of home ground and an experienced squad (average age 28.9), the Singapore team is still not an equal opponent to coach Kim Sang-sik's team. A victory is within reach of Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates.
In the past, the Vietnam Team once faced the Singapore team in the semi-finals of the ASEAN Cup (formerly known as the AFF Cup). Specifically, at the ASEAN Cup 2008, coach Henrique Calisto and his team defeated the Singapore team with a final score of 1-0.
In the first leg of the semi-final at My Dinh Stadium, the two teams drew goalless. And in the second leg of the semi-final in Singapore, the Vietnamese team defeated the home team with a score of 1-0, thanks to the only goal scored by Nguyen Quang Hai, a striker born in 1985.
Let's wait and see if coach Kim Sang-sik and his team can "win" right in the "lion island" or not?