Former player Sasi Kumar shows how Singapore can deal with the Vietnam team

(Dan Tri) - Many Singaporean football experts, including former defender Sasi Kumar, admitted that coach Tsutomu Ogura's team will face many difficulties when facing the Vietnamese team in the AFF Cup semi-finals.

"Loss of concentration at crucial moments is something that the Singapore team must avoid at all costs. They must be fully focused for 90, 95 minutes when facing the Vietnam team," former Singapore national team player Sasi Kumar told CNA ahead of the first leg of the AFF Cup 2024 semi-final between Singapore and Vietnam at Jalan Besar Stadium at 8pm tonight (December 26).

Cựu cầu thủ Sasi Kumar bày cách để Singapore đối phó với tuyển Việt Nam - 1 — The Vietnamese team drew 0-0 with Singapore at Jalan Besar Stadium in the AFF Cup 2022 (Photo: CNA).

This match attracted attention from the media and football fans of both countries, with the Vietnamese team being rated higher as they have never lost to Singapore since 1998 and performed well in the group stage.

Sasi Kumar was the only goal scorer in the match 26 years ago, helping Singapore beat Vietnam in the 1998 AFF Cup final at Hang Day Stadium.

Former defender Sasi Kumar also admitted that the Vietnamese team is of a higher standard than his home team. He said: "I don't think the Vietnamese team is playing at its best but they have top-class players. They are a very, very strong team... They are definitely the strongest candidate for the 2024 AFF Cup championship.

The fact that they didn't play to their potential won't bother them because this is a football tournament, the important thing is just to win and go through to the next round."

However, the Singapore football legend believes that the Singapore team can completely surprise Vietnam if they play good counter-attacks and are effective in the final finishing step.

Cựu cầu thủ Sasi Kumar bày cách để Singapore đối phó với tuyển Việt Nam - 2 — Former striker Sasi Kumar admitted that Xuan Son is a dangerous spearhead in the attack of the Vietnamese team (Photo: Thanh Dong).

"When Malaysia starts to put pressure on the defense, it is very difficult for us to break out. Vietnam will do the same and try to put pressure on the opponent's half and so Singapore have to do better.

In any football game, if you play counter-attacking – as Singapore have shown they are capable of doing – then that can be something that causes a bit of a problem against Vietnam.

Perhaps our team will try to make it difficult for Vietnam, look for quick counter-attacks and maybe take advantage of set pieces," Sasi Kumar emphasized.

However, the former Singapore defender admitted that the Vietnamese team has many experienced players such as Tien Linh, Quang Hai, Duy Manh, Hoang Duc, especially naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son - who scored two goals and two assists in the 5-0 victory over Myanmar.

"He is in really good form at the moment and is very confident. Vietnam's strikers are all trying to score and Xuan Son is in great form. He will create many chances. We hope the score will be close, because with that score it will be very unpredictable in the second leg of the semi-final," Sasi Kumar concluded.