Vietnam vs Thailand in the semi-finals: Who does the past support?

Tiger Cup 1996

As a player, Kiatisuk was the "nemesis" of the Vietnam National Team.

At the tournament that took place 25 years ago, in Singapore,Vietnam teamwas eliminated by the Thai team in the semi-finals with a score of 2 - 4. Vo Hoang Buu and Nguyen Hong Son were the two players who scored for the team of the late coach Karl-Heinz Weigang (Germany).

Meanwhile, Kiatisuk and his teammates won the championship with a 1-0 victory over the Malaysian team, while the Vietnamese team also excelled in defeating the Indonesian team with a score of 3-2, to win the bronze medal. This was considered a quite successful tournament for Nguyen Hong Son and his teammates.

Tiger Cup 1998

Official lineup of Vietnam National Team at Tiger Cup 1998.

Two years later, the Vietnamese team faced the Thai team in the semi-finals of Tiger 1998, a tournament held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This time, Nguyen Hong Son and his teammates were the ones to have the winning smile.

In the match at Hang Day Stadium, coach Alfred Riedl and his team defeated the Thai team with a score of 3 - 0, with goals from Truong Viet Hoang, Nguyen Hong Son and Van Sy Hung. It is worth mentioning that the Thai team participated in the Tiger Cup 1998 without the services of the famous trio Kiatisuk - Dusit - Tawan.

Tiger Cup 2002

The "captain" of the Vietnam team at Tiger Cup 2002 was coach Henrique Calisto.

The heaviest defeat of the Vietnam team in the top tournament of the Southeast Asian region was the 0-4 defeat against the Thailand team, which took place nearly 20 years ago. At that time, the Vietnam team was led by coach Henrique Calisto, a Portuguese strategist.

However, the Vietnamese team had a relatively successful tournament, with a bronze medal (defeating the Malaysian team 2-1 in the third place match). This season, coach Henrique Calisto no longer has famous stars like Nguyen Hong Son, Vo Hoang Buu, Tran Cong Minh...

AFF Cup 2007

Coach Alfred Riedl and his team during a training session at the AFF Cup 2007.

Although playing at My Dinh Stadium in the first leg of the semi-final, Le Cong Vinh and his teammates had to sadly watch the Thai team leave with a 2-0 victory. If the strikers had successfully taken advantage of the delicious opportunities created (Phan Thanh Binh missed a penalty), the Vietnamese team would have had a better result.

Losing 2 goals "without" in the first leg of the semi-final, coach Alfred Riedl and his team faced many disadvantages in the second leg of the semi-final. Despite their best efforts, Le Cong Vinh and his teammates could only get a 0-0 draw at Rajamangala Stadium (Bangkok). Once again, the Vietnamese team missed the Tiger Cup/AFF Cup final due to the Thai team.

Thus, the head-to-head record between the Vietnam National Team and the Thailand National Team in the semi-finals of the Tiger Cup/AFF Cup is leaning towards the host country's team. Hopefully, the Vietnam National Team will achieve positive results in the upcoming two matches.

According to the schedule, the first leg semi-final between Vietnam and Thailand at the AFF Cup 2020 will take place on December 22, and the second leg semi-final will take place 3 days later (December 25)./.