Cambodia challenges Malaysia, Thailand enters the battle

Will Cambodia bring surprises?

At 5:45 p.m. on December 8, Cambodia will play at home at the Olympic Stadium against the Malaysian team. This is also the first match, opening the AFF Cup 2024.

In terms of strength and form, the Malaysian team is considered to be superior to Cambodia. Since 2016, the two teams have met 5 times and Malaysia has won all of them. The "Malaysian Tigers" scored 14 goals against Cambodia and only conceded 3 goals. Notably, in the most recent meeting (December 2022), the Malaysian team beat Cambodia 4-0.

Malaysia team (yellow shirt) is rated higher than Cambodia on the opening day.

However, the Malaysian team entered the AFF Cup 2024 with many changes in the squad. In mid-September 2024, coach Kim Pan-gon suddenly resigned and returned to Korea to lead Ulsan HD Club. Spanish coach Pau Marti Vicente was chosen as his replacement. The 41-year-old coach helped Malaysia achieve positive results in a number of friendly matches, notably winning the Merdeka Cup 2024 (Malaysia defeated Lebanon 1-0 in the final). However, just 3 days before the match between Malaysia and Cambodia took place, Mr. Pau Marti Vicente suddenly announced that he would leave the Malaysian team after the AFF Cup 2024 ended.

Not only that, the Malaysian team also does not have the strongest force in this year's tournament. Because the AFF Cup 2024 is not on FIFA Days, the teams have refused to release players. Many stars such as Safawi Rasid, Brendan Gan, Arif Aiman, Faisal Halim, Nooa Laine, Natxo Insa, Akhyar Rashid did not appear. In particular, the absence of conductor Safawi Rasid will greatly affect the attacking ability of the Malaysian team.

On the other side, the Cambodian team is full of enthusiasm and ready to create surprises. The Cambodian team's squad for the 2024 AFF Cup is considered to be of better quality and more consistent than in previous tournaments. In addition to the young domestic squad, the Cambodian team has added many naturalized players such as Yudai Ogawa (Japan), Takaki Ose (Japan), Hikaru Mizuno (Japan), Coulibaly Abdel Kader (Ivory Coast), Rafael Andes Nieto Rondon (Colombia), Mohammed Faeez Khan (South Africa)... Most of these players are playing in the Cambodian national championship, so coach Koji Gyotoku can easily create connections within the team.

“Malaysia is a strong team regardless of the players in their team. However, we will try our best to meet the expectations of our home fans to win,” coach Koji Gyotoku affirmed.

Duy Manh becomes captain of Vietnam national team: Bold decision of coach Kim Sang-sik

Thailand shows off its strength on the opening day

At 7:30 p.m. on December 8, the Thai team will take on Timor Leste. This match will take place in Vietnam because the Timor Leste team decided to choose Hang Day (Hanoi) as their home stadium for the 2024 AFF Cup. In addition, because the Thai team is the defending champion, the Organizing Committee is also expected to hold an opening ceremony before the match takes place.

To prepare for the tournament, coach Masatada Ishii of the Thai team did not call up stars like Chanathip Songkrasin, Theerathon Bunmathan, Teerasil Dangda... However, with players like Nicholas Mickelson, Suphanan Bureerat, Supachok or Patrick Gustafson, Teerasak Poeiphimai, the Thai team is still considered superior to the remaining opponents in Group A. Before the AFF Cup 2024, Thailand showed good form with 6 consecutive unbeaten matches and a big win against Timor Leste is what the "War Elephants" are aiming for.

Thailand team (blue shirt) is predicted to have an easy match against Timor Leste.

Meanwhile, the force that Timor Leste brings to the AFF Cup 2024 has up to 15 players under the age of 23. Gali Freitas, Santiago Xavier and Olagar Xavier are the stars of the team, expected to shine. In addition, since taking over, coach Fabio Maciel (Brazilian) has helped Timor Leste improve significantly in terms of tactics and ability to organize the game. However, Mr. Fabio Maciel admitted that meeting Thailand on the opening day is too big a challenge for Timor Leste and his team will hardly create a surprise.

Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 is broadcast live and in full on FPT Play, at: http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-thi-dau-bang-a-aff-cup-hom-nay-campuchia-thu-thach-malaysia-thai-lan-xuat-tran-185241207161014042.htm