Xuan Son has a bright chance to win the Golden Boot, Vietnam team breaks 27-year curse

(Dan Tri) – 27 years of not being able to beat Thailand at home ended last night (January 2), after the Vietnamese team defeated the team from the Land of the Golden Pagoda 2-1 at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho). The hero was Xuan Son.

The last time the Vietnamese team beat the Thai team at home in an AFF Cup was in the semi-finals of the 1998 tournament. That year, goals from Nguyen Hong Son, Truong Viet Hoang and Van Sy Hung helped coach Alfred Riedl's team (Austrian) beat Thailand 3-0 in the semi-finals.

The last time the Vietnamese team won against Thailand in an official match was 17 years ago. That was a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the 2008 AFF Cup final at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok (Thailand). The goalscorers for the Vietnamese team that year were Nguyen Vu Phong and Le Cong Vinh.

Xuân Son sáng cửa giành Vua phá lưới, tuyển Việt Nam phá dớp 27 năm - 1 — Xuan Son made great achievements (Photo: Manh Quan).

The Vietnamese team is so inferior in head-to-head record to Thailand that, before the first leg of the 2024 AFF Cup final, CNN Indonesia commented: “Thailand has an advantage in head-to-head compared to the Vietnamese team. The Vietnamese team has not won against Thailand since the 2008 AFF Cup final.”

“Even in the golden era of the Vietnamese team under coach Park Hang Seo (a Korean), the Vietnamese team could not beat Thailand in official tournaments,” CNN Indonesia continued to comment.

However, those things have forever gone into the past, after the 2-1 victory of the team under coach Kim Sang Sik, at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho) last night.

Xuân Son sáng cửa giành Vua phá lưới, tuyển Việt Nam phá dớp 27 năm - 2 — The Vietnamese team defeated Thailand at home for the first time in 27 years (Photo: Manh Quan).

Also in the long period of 17 years without winning against Thailand in official tournaments, 27 years without winning against this team at home, the Vietnamese team has not found a sharp striker like Nguyen Xuan Son.

Former VFF Vice President Duong Vu Lam commented: “Xuan Son is the one who complements the details that the Vietnamese team has lacked in recent international tournaments. He has the ability to turn situations and opportunities that the team creates into goals.”

Nguyen Xuan Son scored two goals in Vietnam's 2-1 victory at Viet Tri Stadium. He scored in the style that people expected: Skillfully and bravely passing the opponent's defense, then accurately finishing the goal.

With 7 goals in this year's tournament, Xuan Son is facing a great opportunity to win the title of Top Scorer of the AFF Cup 2024. He is 3 goals ahead of the 4 people behind him: Tien Linh, Patrik Gustavsson, Suphanat Mueanta and Shawal Anuar.

This is the second time in history that the Vietnamese team has beaten Thailand in the first leg of the AFF Cup final, both times with a score of 2-1. The first time we beat them with this score in the first leg of a Southeast Asian championship final was in 2008.

That year, the team of coach Henrique Calisto (Portugal) won the overall championship. This time, Vietnamese football fans are waiting for the team of coach Kim Sang Sik (Korean) to repeat the same achievement, in the second leg final match at 8:00 pm on January 5.