Malaysia - Vietnam (first half) 0-0: The goalpost saves Vietnam

Việt Nam - Ảnh 1. — The ball fight between Tien Anh (left) and Malaysian player - Photo: ANH KHOA

For many years, Malaysia has always been at a disadvantage against Vietnam whenever the two teams met. But this time the story is very different, because the team nicknamed "Malaysian Tigers" is changing significantly, at least in terms of personnel with the naturalization policy.

On the FIFA rankings, the Vietnam team is currently ranked 109th in the world , 22 places higher than Malaysia. According to statistics from the prestigious transfer site Transfermarkt, the total value of the Malaysian squad is up to 15.38 million euros, nearly 3 times the total value of the Vietnam team (5.93 million euros).

Meanwhile, Vietnamese football still relies heavily on domestically trained players. Xuan Son is considered a rare case of naturalization, capable of carrying the whole team as he contributed to the 2024 ASEAN Cup championship. However, since breaking his leg in this tournament, the Brazilian striker has been sidelined for a long time.

The absence of Xuan Son is a difficult problem for coach Kim Sang Sik on the attack line. He will have to calculate many other options to deal with the home team Malaysia when Cong Phuong is also unable to participate due to injury.

The Malaysian team has an average age of 28.2 compared to 27 for Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Malaysian team has an average height of 1.79m, compared to 1.77m for Vietnam.

In terms of head-to-head record, Vietnam completely dominates Malaysia. The two teams have met 23 times before, with Vietnam winning 15 matches. Since 2014, Malaysia has drawn and lost every time they have faced Vietnam.

However, this meeting between the two teams is completely different because Malaysia is known to have 18 naturalized players in the squad. Therefore, Malaysia is also rated higher by bookmakers even though they have a worse head-to-head record than Vietnam.

The match at Bukit Jalil Stadium is predicted to be very difficult and unpredictable for coach Kim Sang Sik and his team.