Crushing Singapore at Viet Tri Stadium, the Vietnamese team confidently entered the final of the ASEAN Cup 2024
The 2-0 away win in the first leg gave the Vietnamese team a big advantage in the rematch against Singapore. And returning home, the Golden Star warriors showed their superiority.
Compared to the first leg of the semi-final, coach Kim Sang Sik changed 5 positions in the starting lineup when Duy Manh, Ngoc Quang, Van Thanh, Hai Long, Ngoc Tan replaced Tien Anh, Van Khang, Quang Hai, Vi Hao, Dinh Thanh Binh.
On the Singapore team side, the most important change is the return of Kyoga Nakamura - a Japanese-born playmaker - after suspension.
The away team rushed forward right after the kick-off, but the first dangerous situation belonged to the home team. In the 3rd minute, Hoang Duc took a free kick from the left into the penalty area, Xuan Son jumped high to head the ball near the penalty spot, the ball went over the bar.
In the 10th minute, from Lionel Tan's throw-in on the right, a Singaporean player headed the ball close to the goal but Dinh Trieu pushed it away. Then, Faris rushed in to head the ball into the net, but the referee blew the whistle for the away team's foul. However, like the situations of scoring and denying goals at the ASEAN Cup 2024, the referee continued to listen to the advice of the VAR team to see whether to blow the whistle and recognize the goal or not. After 6 minutes of reviewing the situation, the referee made the final decision to not recognize the goal.
In the following minutes, the Vietnamese team continuously created dangerous situations. In the 20th minute, from a corner kick by Hoang Duc, Duy Manh fired a shot from the edge of the penalty area, the ball hit a Singaporean player and bounced out.
A minute later, Chau Ngoc Quang headed the ball from close range after a cross from the right, the ball bounced into the right corner of the goal, but the referee found fault with the Vietnamese player for pushing his opponent behind.
In the previous 5 matches at the ASEAN Cup 2024, the Vietnamese team failed to score in the first half. It seemed like this scenario would repeat itself, until the 40th minute. Xuan Son was pulled down in the Singapore penalty area while Hai Long took a free kick. After listening to the advice of the VAR team, the referee went out to watch the collision live. After 2 minutes of reviewing the situation, the main referee decided to award a penalty to Vietnam. The main referee initially gave a red card to center-back Lionel Tan, causing him to react strongly, but a minute later, the referee overturned the red card and gave Tan a yellow card.
On the penalty spot, Xuan Son confidently shot low to the left corner, opposite the direction of the Singapore goalkeeper's dive, to open the score for the home team. Although there were 12 minutes of extra time in the first half, the score was still 1-0 in favor of the Vietnam team.
Entering the second half, the match was tense. The breakthrough only came in the 63rd minute when Hoang Duc tried to block a pass from a Singaporean midfielder, passed two defenders of the opponent and crossed, the ball hit the Singapore defender and bounced towards the goal, Xuan Son touched the ball in front of the goal to score.
Trailing by 2 goals and with almost no chance of reaching the final, the Singaporean players still played with determination. In the 74th minute, midfielder Nakamura used his left foot in the middle before shooting with his left foot, the ball hit the ground and went into the left corner, leaving goalkeeper Dinh Trieu unable to block it.
However, just 16 minutes later, in the first minute of extra time, the 2-goal gap was restored. Van Vi - the player who had come on to replace Xuan Manh earlier, rushed to receive the ball in the penalty area when the opposing defender let the ball bounce out, Bin Azmi pushed Van Vi down. The referee awarded Vietnam a penalty and showed Bin Azmi a yellow card.
On the penalty spot, Tien Linh still took a shot towards the left corner like in the first leg of the semi-final. The Singapore goalkeeper guessed the right direction, touched the ball but could not block it.
In the remaining 5 minutes of injury time, no more goals were scored. In the end, the Vietnamese team won 3-1 against the Singapore team to qualify for the final match of the 2024 ASEAN Cup. However, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team had to pay a heavy price for this victory when all 3 full-backs, Vu Van Thanh, Pham Xuan Manh and Ho Tan Tai, were injured.