Vietnam Football team (white jerseys) defeated Thai team in the 2008 AFF Cup final to win the championship. (Photo: SGGP)
Not only have “revenged” the Thai football team, such as the 3-0 victory at the 1998 Tiger Cup or the victory in the 2008 AFF Cup final, but Vietnamese football has also risen to first place in Southeast Asia for the past three years.
In a speed race, if the first place wants to improve his performance, he will always need to have equal competitors in terms of level. The race between Thailand and Vietnam is the same. At the 2017 SEA Games, the Thai team made the U22 Vietnam Football team eliminated right from the group stage, and a new page in history has been turned since then. Coach Park Hang-seo appeared, and his first victory was nothing else but a 2-1 victory over the Thai U23 Football team in a friendly tournament in Thailand to prepare for the final round of the AFC U23 Asian Cup.
In 2019, Coach Park Hang-seo and his players once again won the King's Cup match held by Thailand and got a 4-0 victory in the 2020 U23 Asian Cup qualifying round. Thai people began to feel the pressure of chasing that they had caused to Vietnam for a long time before. In the second qualifying round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the two teams got a draw, but the only one ticket to the final qualifying round of Southeast Asia that Vietnam earned definitely made Thailand see it as a failure.
It is the reason that Thai fans feel excited when their team has a rematch with Vietnam in the semi-finals of the 2020 AFF Cup. It is an obsession that the Vietnamese fans used to experience themselves. Many people imagine a dreamlike final, but according to ESPN, any team that wins the semi-final match between Vietnam and Thailand deserves to win the championship title. In other words, this match is the early final of the 2020 AFF Cup.
For Vietnamese fans, it is also the time for the national football team to show the bravery of the leader. The Thai people are not convinced because they believe in the saying "form is temporary, class is permanent" even though the success of Vietnamese football under Coach Park Hang-seo is long enough to affirm its leading position. At the 2020 AFF Cup, Vietnam is the defending champion, so in theory, the team needs to defeat all opponents standing in the way to protect the throne.
Saying that does not mean there will be no surprises. However, there is no better time for Coach Park Hang-seo and his players to show their bravery. It is a two-legged match that takes place on the intermediate field for the two sides to correct mistakes, with the best football players and coaches who know the opponent best.
The team that loses in the semi-finals will certainly be under extremely-heavy pressure in the future. However, clearly, the race between Vietnam and Thailand will not end after the matches in Singapore. Or, more precisely, it is just the beginning of a new race that will bring good things to the development of Southeast Asian football.
In a speed race, if the first place wants to improve his performance, he will always need to have equal competitors in terms of level. The race between Thailand and Vietnam is the same. At the 2017 SEA Games, the Thai team made the U22 Vietnam Football team eliminated right from the group stage, and a new page in history has been turned since then. Coach Park Hang-seo appeared, and his first victory was nothing else but a 2-1 victory over the Thai U23 Football team in a friendly tournament in Thailand to prepare for the final round of the AFC U23 Asian Cup.
In 2019, Coach Park Hang-seo and his players once again won the King's Cup match held by Thailand and got a 4-0 victory in the 2020 U23 Asian Cup qualifying round. Thai people began to feel the pressure of chasing that they had caused to Vietnam for a long time before. In the second qualifying round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the two teams got a draw, but the only one ticket to the final qualifying round of Southeast Asia that Vietnam earned definitely made Thailand see it as a failure.
It is the reason that Thai fans feel excited when their team has a rematch with Vietnam in the semi-finals of the 2020 AFF Cup. It is an obsession that the Vietnamese fans used to experience themselves. Many people imagine a dreamlike final, but according to ESPN, any team that wins the semi-final match between Vietnam and Thailand deserves to win the championship title. In other words, this match is the early final of the 2020 AFF Cup.
For Vietnamese fans, it is also the time for the national football team to show the bravery of the leader. The Thai people are not convinced because they believe in the saying "form is temporary, class is permanent" even though the success of Vietnamese football under Coach Park Hang-seo is long enough to affirm its leading position. At the 2020 AFF Cup, Vietnam is the defending champion, so in theory, the team needs to defeat all opponents standing in the way to protect the throne.
Saying that does not mean there will be no surprises. However, there is no better time for Coach Park Hang-seo and his players to show their bravery. It is a two-legged match that takes place on the intermediate field for the two sides to correct mistakes, with the best football players and coaches who know the opponent best.
The team that loses in the semi-finals will certainly be under extremely-heavy pressure in the future. However, clearly, the race between Vietnam and Thailand will not end after the matches in Singapore. Or, more precisely, it is just the beginning of a new race that will bring good things to the development of Southeast Asian football.
