Tien Linh scores twice, Vietnam wins ticket to AFF Cup 2022 final

Tien Linh scored a double to bring victory to the Vietnamese team against Indonesia. Photo: Hai Hoang

In the first leg of the semi-final, the Vietnamese team gained a slight advantage when they drew with Indonesia right at Bung Karno Stadium. However, fans were still a bit worried, because they thought that My Dinh Stadium did not guarantee the quality for coach Park Hang-seo and his team to be able to deploy their familiar ball control style of play.

However, within just 6 days, with the total mobilization of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the grass surface of My Dinh Stadium has been significantly improved. This is a favorable condition for the Vietnamese team to bring joy to the home fans.

Going into the second leg of the semi-final, coach Park Hang-seo made some minor changes to the starting lineup. Phan Van Duc sat on the bench, and was replaced by Pham Tuan Hai. Van Thanh and Duy Manh were also not present from the start, but were replaced by Tan Tai and Thanh Chung.

Tien Linh's header hit the net of goalkeeper Nadeo. Photo: Hai Hoang

With home field advantage, after the ball rolled,Vietnam teamestablished the initiative. Tuan Hai's enthusiasm brought new features to the home team's attacking style of play. Besides, Hung Dung and Hoang Duc, as usual, still showed their class, when creating highly unpredictable combinations.

In particular, Hung Dung, with his good tactical vision, created many opportunities for his teammates. One of those passes by Hung Dung was realized by Tien Linh with a goal in the 7th minute of the match. The midfielder of Hanoi FC sent a long pass from the home field to Tien Linh's right range. The striker of Binh Duong Club controlled the ball properly before shooting past goalkeeper Nadeo, opening the score for the Vietnamese team.

After the goal, Indonesia increased the speed of the match and attacked, but Coach Park's students showed their technical qualities, not giving the opponent a chance to play the ball. The match became more intense than necessary, players from both teams often had quite dangerous collisions. The climax was in the 24th minute, Dendy collided with Que Ngoc Hai in the penalty area, but the referee did not blow the penalty. Players from both teams then rushed into each other and fought. The referee had to give Bui Tien Dung a yellow card.

Hung Dung played explosively when he had 2 assists to help Tien Linh score. Photo: Hai Hoang

Although Indonesia often pressed, the Vietnamese team, with their smooth coordination, created many dangerous opportunities in front of Nadeo's goal. In the 30th minute, Tuan Hai chose a good position to shoot, after a pass from his teammate, but goalkeeper Nadeo played excellently and successfully blocked.

In the first 45 minutes of the match, the two teams played many high-quality football moves, bringing excitement to the fans at My Dinh Stadium.

Entering the second half, the Vietnamese team continued to maintain a proactive style of play. The trio of Quang Hai, Hung Dung, and Hoang Duc often created highly coordinated pieces. This caused the Indonesian defense to fall into a passive position many times.

With overwhelming class, the Vietnamese team quickly doubled the gap when only a few minutes had passed in the second half. From a corner kick on the left wing, Tien Linh jumped high and headed the ball into the Indonesian net. This was Tien Linh's second goal in this match.

The match heated up with many fierce tackles from both teams. Photo: Hai Hoang

After leading the opponent by 2 goals, the mentality of coach Park Hang-seo's students was raised. Therefore, Quang Hai and his teammates created many highly improvised combinations and always put Nadeo's goal in an alarming position.

In the 54th minute, Tien Linh continued to threaten the Indonesian goal with a very strong shot but it did not go into the opponent's net. A few minutes later, Tuan Hai tested the opponent's goalkeeper with a pass from Van Hau, but the striker's final shot could not beat Nadeo.

Almost throughout the second half, Indonesia mainly defended and did not create any significant opportunities on Van Lam's goal.

In the final minutes, when he felt safe, Coach Park proactively pulled out important “cards” to calculate for the last two matches. Therefore, the result remained 2-0 in favor of the Vietnamese team.