Vietnam team is not far away from winning the AFF Cup

CAUTIONARY APPROACH

Ahead of the first leg of the 2024 AFF Cup final between Vietnam and Thailand, there is a noteworthy statistic: Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team have only scored 1 goal in the first half of the past 6 matches. The modest number speaks to the familiar approach of Mr. Kim and his team, whether playing against… Laos or Thailand: approaching the match in the tightest, most calculating way possible. The Vietnamese team is ready to put their opponents in a stalemate, only really accelerating in the last 20 minutes to decide the match.

Xuan Son (12) shines with a double against Thailand

What happened at Viet Tri Stadium last night (January 2) was not beyond prediction. The Vietnamese team only pressed Thailand for about the first 10 minutes. When the excitement of the final atmosphere passed, Hoang Duc and his teammates returned to their usual playing style. The home team defended firmly with 5 defenders defending the home field. The Vietnamese team's attacks mainly came from ball-winning phases on the opponent's field, or long balls from the defense to the front line for Xuan Son to handle.

Xuan Son can win another Golden Ball title of AFF Cup 2024

In the first half, Xuan Son had at least 3 dangerous attacking situations, but instead of coordinating, this player chose to finish immediately. The connection between Xuan Son and the satellites such as Van Vi, Ngoc Quang, Vi Hao was loose in the early stages of the match, when Thailand had predicted well. Not only did Chalermsak Aukkee follow Xuan Son like a shadow, the away team also predicted well the passes of the Brazilian striker with the surrounding satellites. Thailand's reasonable tactics made Vietnam's worth-watching attacks mainly come from "snatching", taking advantage of the opponent's mistakes, instead of being able to organize the attack smoothly and systematically.

If the Vietnamese team only made 30 accurate passes in the first half, the number of Thailand was 104. After being overwhelmed at the beginning of the match, coach Masatada Ishii's team found their rhythm. And when they regained the feeling of the ball, Thailand was always Thailand. Smooth passing, good cross-line attacks with strikers who are good at passing the ball and finding space like Ekanit Panya or Patrik Gustavsson.

However, the reasonable defensive distance between the flanks and the center, along with the two explosive strikers Ngoc Tan and Hoang Duc working tirelessly, helped the Vietnamese team effectively cover the second line - which is the favorite scoring space of the Thais. The defense with Thanh Chung and Tien Dung also followed Gustavsson closely, preventing the Thai striker from jumping up in the air.

SPRING IS STILL ON

The Vietnamese team only held the ball for 39% of the time, making less than half the number of passes as Thailand. Under coach Kim Sang-sik, passing less has never been a problem. The Korean coach does not need his players to have a systematic and methodical ball deployment system, when the Vietnamese team can play long balls to approach the goal quickly and with the least risk. The way Kim and his team play may be minimalistic, but it ensures safety.

Great achievement of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team

Then the strongest point of the Vietnamese team came into play, which was unpredictable attacks. Coach Kim Sang-sik sent Quang Hai onto the field at the beginning of the second half, before leaving his mark in the 59th minute with a cross from the right wing for Van Thanh to head the ball. In the open space, Xuan Son jumped high and headed the ball fiercely to open the score. Take a close look at this goal: the Vietnamese team only needed 2 passes to tear apart the Thai defense. Quang Hai hung the ball diagonally across the field very accurately, before Van Thanh, who was a right-back, quietly moved to the left, ran into the "blind spot" of the opponent's defender to head the ball into the goal. A very basic and very... Kim Sang-sik attack. No need to be elaborate, the important thing is effectiveness.

Coach Kim's criteria brought the Vietnamese team to the final, although until now, perhaps many people still cannot explain the playing philosophy of the Viet Tri team.

The Vietnamese team can play simply and still win, because the defensive foundation that coach Park Hang-seo left behind is still there, and because Mr. Kim Sang-sik has an outstanding striker like Xuan Son. In the 73rd minute, the striker born in 1997 took advantage of a Thai defender losing the ball, dribbled the ball straight through and then shot into the visitors' net.

However, the Vietnamese team could not keep a clean sheet. The gap in the defense was exposed at the end of the match when Thailand easily crossed the ball from the left wing for Chalermsak to get past Thanh Chung and Tien Dung, heading the goal to rekindle hope for Thailand. However, that was not enough as the Thais lost their first official match against Vietnam in 16 years.

The 2-1 victory over Thailand helped the Vietnamese team get a little closer to winning the 2024 AFF Cup. In the second leg of the final, taking place at 8 p.m. on January 5, Mr. Kim and his team need at least a draw at Rajamangala Stadium to return to the Southeast Asian throne.

Watch ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 live & in full on FPT Play, at: http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-cach-chuc-vo-dich-aff-cup-khong-con-xa-185250103001117616.htm