Before King's Cup 2019: Mr. Park 'closed the door, locked the bolt'
(Baonghean.vn) - Never before has a national team match between Thailand and Vietnam been as anticipated as at the King's Cup 2019. Both teams want to win to claim the No. 1 position in Southeast Asia, but their preparation is worlds apart.
Over the past year, while the Vietnamese national team has been continuously successful (winning the 2018 AFF Cup and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup), on the contrary, the Thai national team was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2018 AFF Cup and only reached the round of 16 of the 2019 Asian Cup. Therefore, the Thai national team is eager to compete with Vietnam at the 2019 King's Cup to affirm its position as the number 1 football team in Southeast Asia.
11 years "close to home, far from the alley"
Surprisingly, 11 years after the first leg of the 2008 AFF Cup final, Vietnam has yet to win a single match against Thailand at the national team level. The last time the Vietnamese national team defeated Thailand was on December 24, 2008 at the Thai national stadium Rajamangala with two goals from Nguyen Vu Phong and Le Cong Vinh, and then went on to win the championship in the second leg of the AFC Cup final four days later.
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| Mr. Park is winning the trust of fans. Photo: VPF |
Four years later, at the 2012 AFF Cup, the Vietnamese team led by coach Phan Thanh Hung suffered a crushing 1-3 defeat to Thailand and was eliminated right after the group stage. It is still considered the most forgettable AFF Cup in the history of Vietnamese football.
In the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese team continued to have 2 matches against Thailand in May and October 2015. In the first leg at Rajamangala, Nguyen Minh Chau's red card caused coach Toshiya Miura's defense to collapse and created an opportunity for Pokkhao Anan to score the only goal.
In the second leg at My Dinh, Chanathip Songkrasin, Theerathon Bunmathan, and Teerasil Dangda crushed host Vietnam 3-0, helping Thailand advance to the final qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup in Asia.
Since then, despite many tournaments, for some reason, the Vietnamese and Thai teams have never met again. That's why the saying "close to home but far from home" is for this reason! At the AFF Cup 2018 or in the successful tournaments of Vietnamese football in recent times, we were in different groups. That makes the match against each other on June 5 at Buriram United Stadium at the King's Cup even more worth watching.
Although in youth tournaments, U23 Vietnam had victories over Thailand at the M-150 Cup 2017 and the U23 Asia 2020 qualifiers, that does not mean that the Thai team will easily lose to Vietnam.
The landlord has strong soldiers and strong generals.
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| Thailand national team summons the best players to prepare for King's Cup 2019. Photo: Onsport |
Head coach Sirisak Yodyathai has called up a preliminary list of 35 players for this training session. Among them are four highly anticipated faces playing abroad: midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin, midfielder Thitipan Puangchan, defender Theerathon Bunmathan and goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan.
Although Muangthong United Club sent a written request not to call up Teerasil Dangda along with Adisak Kraisorn, defender Adisorn Promrak and midfielder Sarach Yooyen, the Football Association of Thailand refused. Star striker Teerasil Dangda has scored 43 goals in 99 appearances for the Thai national team. Of which, he scored 2 goals against the Vietnamese team. So in his 100th match for the national team, Teerasil Dangda was eager to score against the Vietnamese team.
Mr. Park "silent"
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| Mr. Park is "closing the door, locking the door" to plot to defeat the Thais. Photo: AFC |
Although domestic and regional journalists with good sources tried every way to dig up the lineup of the Vietnam national team, it was in vain.
It seems that Mr. Park is silent, preparing for a big, unexpected decision. Obviously, he knows that Thailand wants to beat Vietnam with the strongest squad. But for Mr. Park, this is just an important friendly match for the journey towards the World Cup qualifiers. It is not worth losing the "virtual" title - the number 1 team in Southeast Asia to be disappointed, but it is also not possible to let the Thais easily show their strength. What Mr. Park is "closing the door and locking the bolt" for, only he knows!
