ASEAN Cup Final: Thailand is still formidable, Vietnam needs reasonable tactics to win

Vietnam team practices on the afternoon of December 31 – Photo: NK

Because the second leg of the final must be played away from home on January 5, coach Kim Sang Sik will have to calculate to help the Vietnamese team defeat Thailand in the first leg of the final at Viet Tri Stadium ( Phu Tho ) on January 2 to create an advantage!

Coach Kim Sang Sik received good news

Before the training session on the afternoon of December 31, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team met to review the video of Thailand's two semi-final matches against the Philippines to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. It can be seen that the Vietnamese team is eagerly awaiting the first leg of the final against their familiar rival. Coach Kim Sang Sik was even happier when defender Vu Van Thanh practiced normally after suffering an ankle injury that forced him to leave the field in the second leg of the semi-final against Singapore.

With Van Thanh, coach Kim Sang Sik will be much more confident for the final match when he has full official and backup options on both wings.

However, calculating reasonable personnel for other lines is also something to consider because Thailand is much stronger than their recent opponents. Scoring 22 goals after 6 matches, Thailand showed formidable strength in attack.

With ball control and diverse and smooth attacking combinations, Thailand is truly a big challenge for the Vietnamese team.

In the 6 matches played, Thailand launched 2,559 successful passes (85%) - a number that cannot be ignored when looking back at the 2,063 successful passes of the Vietnamese team (80%). More importantly, the Vietnamese team appeared to play monotonously and relied on naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son.

Therefore, in the afternoon practice session on December 31, Coach Kim Sang Sik stood watching his players warm up and then pondered for a long time before deciding on the starting lineup for the first tactical practice session to prepare for the first leg of the final match.

Although the Vietnamese team has the advantage of many days off, while Thailand just struggled to overcome the Philippines 3-1 in the second leg of the semi-final before moving to Vietnam, expertise will be the deciding factor in the last two matches.

Need to prepare carefully

There are two issues that coach Kim Sang Sik needs to solve in the final. The first is that the playing style must be more diverse. Despite having a lower ball possession rate than Singapore in the semi-finals (38% in the second leg and 32% in the first leg), the Vietnamese team still won 5-1 overall.

That difference was made by Xuan Son – the striker who needed only 3 matches to rise to the top of the “Top scorer” race with 5 goals and 3 assists. Every ball of the Vietnamese team was directed towards Xuan Son to “break the net” of the opponent.

But the final match is never easy. Coach Kim Sang Sik needs to build a diverse playing style, with more surprises for the Vietnamese team. This is because the Thai players' playing ability is better than Singapore's, so they can completely block Xuan Son.

The remaining problem is the goalkeeper position. Nguyen Filip is a European-class goalkeeper and has proven his talent. However, this Vietnamese-American goalkeeper has not been used much by coach Kim Sang Sik in the 2024 ASEAN Cup.

In the last three matches, Mr. Kim has used Dinh Trieu - a goalkeeper who, despite his excellent saves, still does not create confidence with high balls. Meanwhile, this is Thailand's strength, besides the very dangerous small-group passing game.

Even commentator Ngo Quang Tung expressed his confusion with Mr. Kim's decision to use Dinh Trieu (1m80 tall) and abandon Nguyen Filip (1m92).

“Dinh Trieu is not mentally strong and has a short physique, so he is very weak in blocking high balls. The fact that he often punches the ball puts him at risk of conceding a goal, because Thailand is very good at finishing second balls. In the past matches, the Vietnamese team has not faced quality crosses. Therefore, if they encounter quality crosses like Thailand showed against the Philippines, it will be very dangerous,” said Mr. Tung.

Therefore, besides studying the opponent and coming up with a suitable way of playing, coach Kim Sang Sik also has to make reasonable personnel choices to help the Vietnamese team win the first leg of the final to create an advantage for the second leg away from home.

Late on December 31, the Thai team arrived in Viet Tri (Phu Tho) to rest after the flight from Bangkok. Coach Masatada Ishii and his team were divided into two groups to fly to Hanoi . Group one landed at 7:20 p.m., group two landed at 8:55 p.m. and then traveled about an hour and a half to Viet Tri. Notably, striker Suphanat Mueanta could not come to Vietnam with the team due to a high fever and had to be treated in the hospital. The player who scored 4 goals at the 2024 ASEAN Cup will fly over today (January 1) to be able to practice with the team that afternoon.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chung-ket-asean-cup-thailand-van-dang-gom-viet-nam-can-dau-phap-hop-ly-de-chien-thang-20241231223905397.htm#content