The website of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) praised Viet Nam’s performance under head coach Kim Sang-sik as the team finished top of Group A.
“The defending champions topped the group with their third win in four group matches, finishing two points ahead of the Singaporeans, who took second place with eight points, one ahead of Indonesia,” the AFC website reported.
Indonesia’s Bola sports website said Viet Nam completed the group stage with an impressive record. Head coach Kim’s team collected 10 points from four matches, with three wins and one draw. Singapore were the only team to hold Viet Nam to a draw in the group stage. Given their strong group-stage performance, the website described Viet Nam as a leading contender for the title this year.
Commenting on the match against Cambodia, CNN Indonesia said Viet Nam dominated the game despite playing at a relatively slow pace, with short passing being the main tactic employed by Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates.
The Indonesian outlet noted, however, that Vietnam made effective use of their opportunities, highlighting Nguyen Dinh Bac’s two goals.
For the opener, the striker escaped the attention of two Cambodian defenders before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the right corner of the goal. He scored again in the 89th minute with another well-placed finish, CNN Indonesia reported.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea’s Star News highlighted that the victory extended Viet Nam’s unbeaten run to an impressive 22 matches, comprising 19 wins and three draws.
Under coach Kim, the “Golden Star Warriors” have surpassed the previous record of 18 consecutive unbeaten matches set under former head coach Park Hang-seo and continue to set new benchmarks for their unbeaten run.
