ASEAN Cup 2024 group stage draw: Waiting for Vietnam's opponents

At 2:00 p.m. today (May 21), the ASEAN Cup 2024 group draw will take place in Hanoi (VTV5 and FPT Play THTT). Vietnamese fans are waiting to see which opponent will come to coach Kim Sang Sik and his team.

Vietnam team will determine its opponent in AFF Cup 2024 in the draw ceremony this afternoon - Photo: HOANG TUNG

According to the seeding results before the ASEAN Cup (formerly AFF Cup) 2024 draw, Vietnam and Thailand are in pot 1. Pot 2 includes Indonesia and Malaysia. The Philippines and Singapore are in pot 3. Pot 4 includes Myanmar and Cambodia. Laos and Brunei are in pot 5.

Can enter difficult group

With the above seeding results, the Vietnamese team will not meet Thailand in the group stage. However, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team are likely to fall into a difficult group. That is the case when the draw puts the Vietnamese team in the same group with Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos. These are all the strongest teams in their seed group. In recent years, Indonesian football has changed dramatically thanks to the naturalization policy. And the Vietnamese team is the team that has felt the strength of the Indonesian team. In the last 3 matches against Indonesia (2 matches in the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup and 1 match at the Asian Cup), the Vietnamese team all suffered defeats. At the 2024 ASEAN Cup, the Indonesian team has set a goal of winning the championship. In the past, Indonesia has reached the final 6 times but has never won the championship. The Philippines is also a tough opponent for the Vietnamese team. Recently, the Philippine Football Federation has naturalized a series of players to strengthen the national team. Therefore, the Philippines team will be a big obstacle for Vietnam on the way to the goal of reaching the semi-finals of the ASEAN Cup 2024. Besides, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team cannot underestimate Laos and Myanmar because these two football teams have made a lot of progress in recent times.

Easy group, difficult semi-final

The ideal group for Vietnam in the 2024 ASEAN Cup group stage would include Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. In terms of strength, these opponents are not as strong as Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar or Laos. The group stage will therefore be easier for the Vietnamese team. But the problem is that if they fall into an easy group stage, the Vietnamese team could face difficulties in the semi-finals. The two opponents awaiting coach Kim Sang Sik and his team in the semi-finals are likely to be Thailand or Indonesia. In theory, the strength of the two teams at this time is the same. On the contrary, if they fall into a difficult group (with Indonesia and the Philippines) and try to win the top spot, the Vietnamese team will likely have an easier semi-final. The 2024 ASEAN Cup will take place from November 23 to December 21. In the group stage, 5 teams will play a round-robin, each team will play 2 home matches and 2 away matches. At the end of the group stage, the top 2 teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals. From the semi-finals, the teams compete on a home and away basis. The Thai team is the current champion of the tournament.

Indonesian media:   Being in the same group with Thailand will be more interesting

With a massive naturalization policy, Indonesia is emerging as a new force in Southeast Asian football. Recently, they have achieved consecutive successes in the 2024 AFC U23 Championship, the 2024 Asian Cup and the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In which, the Indonesian team has had 3 consecutive victories against Vietnam. However, before the draw for the 2024 ASEAN Cup took place today (May 21), the Indonesian media did not want their team to meet the Vietnamese team. Specifically, they wanted Indonesia to be in the same group with Thailand. Editor Zulkifli of Tribunnews commented: "Recently, we have often met the Vietnamese team. And we have won all 3 recent meetings. Therefore, we think being in the same group with Thailand will be more interesting. This is because the two teams have not met again after the Indonesian team was promoted. The Indonesian team is predicted to replace Thailand as the number 1 football power in Southeast Asia. Therefore, the meeting between these two teams will be the best evidence to test that, especially when we have lost to Thailand many times before". To prepare for the ASEAN Cup 2024, Indonesia has planned to play a friendly match with Malaysia in September or November. Malaysia is the team in the second seed group, so it will not be in the same group with Indonesia.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/boc-tham-vong-bang-asean-cup-2024-cho-doi-thu-cua-tuyen-viet-nam-20240521080434842.htm