'Justice is served, Vietnam deserves to be champion'

No one deserves to be the champion more than Vietnam.

Similar to the first leg of the final at Viet Tri Stadium (2.1), the Vietnamese team continued to cede control of the ball to Thailand. According to Opta , coach Kim Sang-sik's team only had 31% possession - a rate even lower than the previous match. However, the result remained unchanged as the Vietnamese team excellently defeated Thailand 3-2, thereby winning the AFF Cup 2024 with a total score of 5-3 after 2 matches.

Witnessing the performance of the Vietnamese team, journalist Gabriel Tan expressed in an article on ESPN Asia: “The second leg of the AFF Cup final was tense until the last minutes. Many people even expected the drama to last until extra time and the penalty shootout. However, the Vietnamese team did not let all of that happen. In the thrilling events at Rajamangala Stadium, the Vietnamese team's mettle appeared at the right time, helping them defeat Thailand right in Bangkok during the official match time to win the regional championship for the third time in history.”

Emotional victory of Vietnam team right on Thai soil

Journalist Gabriel Tan continued to emphasize: “To understand the importance of this achievement, I must remind you that Thailand had only lost one match at home in the history of the tournament. That was the first leg of the 2008 AFF Cup final. Coincidentally, the Vietnamese team was the team that defeated Thailand. At the same time, in that year, the Vietnamese team lifted the AFF Cup trophy for the first time. And after 16 years, they did the same thing. Vietnam proved that no one in the 2024 AFF Cup deserved to win more than them.”

"Justice has been done"

According to Gabriel Tan, in theory, the Vietnamese team is the brightest candidate for the 2024 AFF Cup championship because it has the strongest squad. However, to achieve the final success, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team must go through many difficult moments, especially when looking at what happened at Rajamangala Stadium.

A well-deserved victory for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team

Journalist Gabriel Tan described the match: "The Vietnamese team opened the score, Thailand responded with an equalizer, but the highlight of the first half must be the moment of Xuan Son's horrific injury. With coach Kim Sang-sik's squad, losing Xuan Son was no different from a disaster. Not stopping there, in the 64th minute, controversy broke out when the "War Elephants" did not return control of the ball from a throw-in, with a goal to increase the score to 2-1 thanks to Supachok. The Vietnamese team was angry, even having a VAR check to evaluate.

However, just 10 minutes later, it seemed that justice had been served to the Vietnamese team. Weerathep Pomphan received a second yellow card for a foul on Vu Van Thanh and then Pansa scored an own goal. At the end of the match, Thailand created a lot of pressure but Vietnam still stood firm. After overcoming many challenges, Hai Long fired a shot from the middle of the field, the ball slowly rolled into the empty net and then there was an explosive moment of celebration. The two goals in the final minutes of the second leg final right on the Thai field were a beautiful and fair ending to the journey of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team at the AFF Cup 2024."

Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 is broadcast live and in full on FPT Play, at: http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chuyen-gia-bong-da-chau-a-cong-ly-duoc-thuc-thi-viet-nam-xung-dang-vo-dich-185250106031550276.htm