In the ASEAN Cup 2024 finals, the Vietnamese team with the strongest squad, the best preparation, and the quality addition of naturalised striker Nguyen Xuan Son (Rafaelson) had to go through many difficult moments against a team mainly made up of young Thai players, showing that the path to becoming the strongest team in Southeast Asia is still full of difficulties.
Many factors contributed to the success of the Vietnamese team in this regional championship. V.League 1, a professional national championship, also had to temporarily stop competing so players could have more time to practice on artificial turf in the Republic of Korea.
Looking at this issue, we can see more clearly how we have focused on the ASEAN Cup, while the two national football championships in Thailand and Indonesia are still playing normally and the clubs in these countries have not returned players to the national team.
The top players of Thailand and Indonesia, who play abroad are also not allowed to return to the national team because the tournament is not yet in the FIFA official competition system.
The presence of striker Nguyen Xuan Son has clearly helped the attack of our national team to improve from the big win over Myanmar in the group stage to the two semi-final matches against Singapore and the victory that created momentum in the first leg of the final against Thailand.
The fact that Xuan Son won both the most important awards, Best Player and Top Scorer, shows the important role of this player. Before the second leg of the final, the foreign press considered the victory of the Vietnamese team to depend on the naturalised striker Nguyen Xuan Son.
It was only in the second leg of the final after Nguyen Xuan Son was injured and left the field and Vietnam was tied 3-3 by Thailand, that the will and determination to win of the Vietnamese players were recognised.
To be fair, the Vietnamese team was also very lucky in the second leg of the final.
The crossbar and lucky tackles also contributed to creating a shield, helping the Vietnamese team not concede a goal against the attacks of the Thai players.
The turning point of the match that helped the Vietnamese team get a more favourable result was midfielder Weerathep Pomphan's red card, which reduced Thailand to 10 men, and Pansa Hemviboon's own goal. Of course, a trick play and a bit of confusion in front of the fighting spirit of the Vietnamese players caused Thailand to lose.
In the moment of being pressed towards the end of the match, Hai Long's long-range shot when the opposing team's goalkeeper had left the goal officially closed the final with a score of 4-2, igniting the joy of victory of millions of Vietnamese fans across the country.
Before and after the final match, two leading coaches in Southeast Asia, Masatada Ishii of the Thai team and Shin Tae-yong of the Indonesian team, both affirmed that the Vietnamese team in this tournament was the strongest, but we had to struggle to win against both Thailand in the final and Indonesia in the group stage, both of whom were young players.
Frankly speaking, we see that Vietnam still has a lot of work to do at the upcoming 33rd SEA Games if the U23 Vietnam team meets these young teams from Indonesia and Thailand when they have just played on par with the Vietnam National Football Team.
In 2025, coach Kim Sang-sik's main task is to lead the U23 Vietnam team and this tournament’s results are the most important factor for the Vietnam Football Federation, to re-sign the contract which expires in March 2026. Looking at the most recent U23 team concentration list, most of these players are top young factors from the U15, U17, and U20 teams.
Even though most of these players are on the payroll of clubs competing in V.League 1, it is difficult to find a prominent striker. The lack of strikers and lack of playing experience, since not many U23 Vietnam players are appreciated at clubs, is a weakness that coach Kim Sang-sik needs to solve.
For the Vietnam national football team, the success of Xuan Son and the openness of Vietnamese fans will open the door for many other naturalised players.
With more great strikers like Xuan Son and talented midfielders and central defenders, the Vietnamese team will be strengthened, but using naturalised players is always a very sensitive factor.
According to the press in the region, although bringing unprecedented success to the Indonesian team, one of the reasons why Mr Shin Tae-yong has just lost his position as coach of this country's national team is that he over-emphasised naturalised players, causing strong reactions from domestic players.
For Vietnamese football, fans will probably always support players like Nguyen Xuan Son because of his talent and enthusiasm to contribute to the country's football.
However, in the long term, Vietnamese football managers and leaders must have a long-term strategy to build a sustainable foundation and know how to take advantage of and create conditions for young domestic talents to develop.
