The amazing confrontation

2 heavy artillery guns

After two consecutive "goalless" matches (Thailand met Cambodia in the final match of the group stage and met the Philippines in the first leg of the semi-finals), Suphanat Mueanta scored again at the AFF Cup 2024. The Thai player currently has 4 goals, equal to the number of goals scored by teammates Patrik Gustavsson and Nguyen Tien Linh on the Vietnamese team and 1 goal less than Nguyen Xuan Son.

Xuan Son, Tien Linh, Gustavsson and Suphanat are also competing for the title of top scorer in this year's AFF Cup. Each of them has 2 more matches (first and second leg of the final) to reach this title. Among them, Xuan Son and Suphanat are the main strikers of the 2 teams Vietnam and Thailand.

The journey to the final of the Vietnamese team has been marked by Nguyen Xuan Son. This player missed the first 3 matches of the group stage, due to FIFA regulations. He only appeared from the last match of the group stage against Myanmar, and has only played 3 matches since the beginning of the tournament. However, Nguyen Xuan Son has scored in every match. He currently has a total of 5 goals, an average of 1.67 goals/match.

Suphanat Mueanta did not play in the final match of the group stage, when Thailand met Cambodia. In the remaining 5 matches of the Thai team, up to the final match, this 22-year-old striker has a total of 4 goals, an average of 0.8 goals/match.

In terms of the ratio of matches/goals, Suphanat Mueanta is only about half that of Nguyen Xuan Son, but the roles of these two players are not the same, so it is difficult to compare based on the above parameters. Nguyen Xuan Son often plays the role of center forward in the Vietnam national team, he always plays in the highest position in the team's winning formation, Xuan Son is the point of receiving the ball after passes from all directions from his teammates.

The difference between 2 top stars

With Suphanat Mueanta, the young striker of the Golden Temple team plays in the position of a withdrawn striker. In addition to scoring goals, Suphanat also has the task of passing the ball to striker Patrik Gustavsson to score. In addition, Suphanat is often not assigned to take penalties, so the value of this player does not simply lie in the number of goals.

Suhanat's header (in blue) brought Thailand into the final.

Screenshot

Suphanat Mueanta's dribbling sometimes disrupts the opponent's defense, creating space for other Thai strikers to occupy and finish. Those are Suphanat's invisible contributions. With Nguyen Xuan Son, this player is highly appreciated not only for his diverse finishing ability, but also for his extremely sharp ability to "sniff out opportunities". Usually, Xuan Son always knows how to appear right at the point where the ball will be headed, before he finishes the shot into the opponent's net. Nguyen Xuan Son discovers the opportunity right before the opponent realizes the risk of conceding a goal, unable to stop the striker of the Vietnamese team.

Another difference between Xuan Son and Suphanat is that the Thai player plays with a technical approach, playing romantically like an artist. On the contrary, Xuan Son, although not inferior in terms of technique, plays with a strong approach. Xuan Son's moves are always as simple as possible, with as few touches as possible, because the less Xuan Son touches, the less time the opposing defenders have to fall back to block this player.

Each person is different, each is dangerous in his own way. The common point between them is that if the opponent's defense makes a mistake, Nguyen Xuan Son and Suphanat Mueanta will immediately punish these mistakes. Whichever player is better in the match between Vietnam and Thailand on January 2 and 5, 2025, that player's team will most likely win the AFF Cup 2024.

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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xuan-son-cham-tran-suphanat-o-chung-ket-lich-su-cuoc-doi-dau-ky-thu-18524123023363498.htm