Vietnam seal ASEAN Championship final spot with classy win over Singapore

The pattern of chaos that began in the first leg of the 2024 ASEAN Championship semi continued, as VAR interventions turned the game completely on its head not once, but twice in the first half.

The beneficiaries? None other than the home team, Vietnam, who also had the home field advantage on their side. The Golden Star Warriors went ahead through newly naturalised star Nguyen Xuan Son's penalty, before Son himself completed his brace in the second half. Singapore cut back the lead courtesy of Kyoga Nakamura, but Nguyen Tien Linh secured Vietnam's ticket in the finals with a decisive penalty.

With two goals in their bag after their late win against Singapore in the first leg, Kim Sang-sik again made fans and pundits alike surprised with another rotated roster, keeping only the three centre backs, midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc and Nguyen Xuan Son up front.

Singapore, needing at least two goals to tie the game and bring the match to extra time, opted for control and attack actively. The performance by the Lions sparked questions on why they have not played like this in the first leg at home, as Singapore surprisingly got the ball into the back of Nguyen Dinh Trieu's net in the twelfth minute.

Referee Lutfullin Rustam disallowed the goal after the linesman determined that Faris Ramli was offside in the lead-up. But no Vietnamese fans at the Viet Tri stadium breathed a sigh of relief, as the monitor on the stadium said that VAR was checking for a possible goal.

Before the match, Vietnamese media talked about the fateful night exactly 10 years ago when Vietnam faced Malaysia at home as a cautionary tale. After winning 2-1 in the first leg, Vietnam lost the second leg 2-4 after two early goals, and collapsed defensively in a match many compared to Brazil's famous 1-7 capitulation in the 2014 World Cup.

As referee Rustam raced for an on-field review, the memories of December 29, 2014 also flocked back in many fans' minds: another opponent from the Strait of Malacca, an early goal conceded after a clumsy defensive error, the fear of history seemed repeating itself again.

But the referee's decision stands. Rustam raised his hand up and signalled for a goal kick. The 20,000 fans at Viet Tri sighed and Vietnam got the wake-up call they desperately needed.

The men in red immediately turn on the afterburner, and push forward instead of sitting back. Chau Ngoc Quang, in his first tournament start, got three golden chances, and even got the ball into Syazwan Buhari's net before it was disallowed due to a foul.

A common joke from Vietnamese fans these days is that people do not need to watch Vietnam's first half, and only have to watch the second, since Vietnam always end the first half goalless.

But the streak was broken in favour of the men in red, again with a VAR-iable that nobody expected. As fans gasped over Nguyen Hai Long's free kick that hit the upright in the 40th minute, VAR signalled Rustam to check for a penalty.

Replays showed that defender Lionel Tan pulled Xuan Son's shirt and the Brazilian-born fell to the ground inside the penalty area. Xuan Son's shirt was even torn apart and had to be replaced. The referee quickly pointed to the spot after an on-field review, and even pulled off a red card for Tan, which he soon retracted after VAR informed him that he had mistook Tan for another player.

A laser-focused Xuan Son calmly dispatched the spot kick and sent the crowd at Viet Tri to jubilation and ended the first half 1-0 to Vietnam.

As the second half started, Vietnam immediately got the first dangerous chance. Chau Ngoc Quang's crazy sprint in the 46th minute inside the box ended with a shot that went just wide.

Vietnam doubled their lead in the 65th minute, as the game was starting to be dull. Syazwan Buhari's failed clearance was caught by Nguyen Hoang Duc, who danced past Lionel Tan and Amirul Adli inside the box, before pulling off a cross to Xuan Son who easily tapped in the empty net.

Singapore, now with the impossible task of scoring five or more goals in just thirty minutes, started to collapse mentally. Their star player, Kyoga Nakamura, pulled one back for the visitor in the 76th minute with a stunning solo effort and shot from around twenty metres, but no immediate changes in their playstyle were visible.

Late in the match, Vietnam was awarded a penalty after Nguyen Van Vi was pushed inside the box by Adli. Nguyen Xuan Son, who is on a hat trick, declined the spot kick and instead offered it to Tien Linh, who confidently dispatched the penalty to secure Vietnam's spot in the final for the second consecutive tournament.

Son and Linh are now both placed first and second, respectively, in the golden boot race.

With this result, Vietnam will either Thailand or the Philippines in the final, with the first leg played at the Viet Tri stadium on January 2, 2025. The team will travel to the stadium of the second semifinalist for the second leg on January 5, 2025./.