Vietnam team 'races' with Malaysia in sub-index, guarding against unforeseen events at Asian Cup

Unlike the match in the group stage of the AFF Cup 2024, in the qualifying round of the Asian Cup 2027, the Vietnamese team started the match against Laos faster. The whole team was more determined to score. We even seemed to regret not being able to win by more.

5 unanswered goals is still not enough

After the match with Laos, although the Vietnamese team won 5-0, defender Van Vi was still worried, "The Vietnamese team played better than the win against Cambodia a few days ago, but the whole team still needs to be more careful and take better advantage of scoring opportunities."

Quang Hai entered the field in the second half and scored 1 goal.

Photo: KHA HOA

The desire to score was clearly seen in the Vietnamese players. Tien Linh and Tuan Hai constantly tried to rush into the opponent's penalty area, continuously shooting when they had the chance. Even defenders like Nguyen Van Vi and Truong Tien Anh continuously pushed up to attack, continuously shooting when they found open space. Van Vi himself scored 2 goals against the team from the land of a million elephants.

Even when leading by 5 goals, Vietnamese players still rushed into the Laos team's field, and there was a feeling that coach Kim Sang-sik's team still wanted to score more goals in the final minutes of the match.

The mental advantage of the Vietnamese team

The reason why the Vietnamese team wants to score many goals is probably because we want to compare the secondary index with the main opponent in Group F of the 3rd qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, Malaysia. In Group F, in addition to the Vietnamese and Malaysian teams, the other two teams, Laos and Nepal, are too weak. It is not impossible that the Vietnamese and Malaysian teams will win all matches against the two teams mentioned above. If the Vietnamese and Malaysian teams are tied in direct matches between the two sides, the secondary parameters, including goal difference, will be taken into account.

The Vietnamese team tried to attack to score many goals.

Photo: KHA HOA

The more goals the Vietnamese team scores against the Lao team, the more advantage we have. Notably, in the match that took place right after the Vietnam-Laos match on the evening of March 25, Malaysia only beat Nepal 2-0. This result brought the Vietnamese team to the top of Group F after the first round of matches. This further reflects the great significance of the big win over the Lao team for the Vietnamese team.

In addition, scoring many goals against the weaker team Laos also helps the Vietnamese players mentally. Coach Kim Sang-sik's players are very confident at the moment. They believe in their team's attacking ability and scoring ability. After temporarily ranking above Malaysia after the first match of Group F, the Vietnamese team will theoretically have more options in terms of playing style when facing this opponent in the second match next June.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-dua-chi-so-phu-voi-malaysia-de-phong-bat-trac-o-asian-cup-185250325231249897.htm