>>> Malaysia reach AFF final as champion Thais miss late penalty
>>> Park warns Vietnam players to maintain high level of concentration for Philippines clash
>>> Vietnam towards breaking “no-win obsession” at My Dinh in AFF Cup knockout stage
Vietnam will welcome the guests at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium under the cheers of tens of thousands of home fans. However, coach Park Hang-seo is still cautious about the opponents who are determined to overturn the 2-1 defeat in the first leg four days ago.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference yesterday, Park gave the visitors absolute respect. The Korean strategist asked his players to focus on the important upcoming match.
In the first leg at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod, Patrick Reichelt scored a goal against Vietnam to raise the hopes for his home team. On the threshold of the return leg, both the Philippines coaching staff and players are determined to overturn the result tonight at My Dinh.
With nothing to lose, the Philippines will be very dangerous. Therefore, the Vietnamese players need to keep a cool head against their hungry opponents if they want to win the remaining ticket to the AFF Cup 2018 final.
The guests are forced to beat Park’s side by at least a two-goal margin to make the "magic" happen. While a draw, or even a 1-0 loss, is enough for the Vietnamese squad to qualify for the reunion in the final with Malaysia, who knocked the defending champions Thailand out of the tournament with a 2-2 draw yesterday.
Last night, the Vietnamese players had their last training session at My Dinh Stadium. Park is likely to be unable to welcome striker Nguyen Van Toan back in the starting lineup tonight due to a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, midfielder Manuel Ott on the visitors' side is also unlikely to miss out after suffering an injury in the previous match’s first half.
The semi-final return match between Vietnam and the Philippines will take place at 7:30 pm tonight. The final first leg is scheduled in Malaysia on December 11, while the return leg will take place four days later to officially determine this year’s AFF Cup champions.
The following are the predicted lineups of Vietnam and the Philippines for the semi-final second leg:
Vietnam (3-4-3): Van Lam; Dinh Trong, Ngoc Hai, Duy Manh; Van Hau, Huy Hung, Xuan Truong, Trong Hoang; Van Duc, Quang Hai, Anh Duc.
Philippines (4-4-2): Michael Falkesgaard; Carli de Murga, Martin Steuble, Alvaro Silva, Adam Reed; Stephan Schrock, Manny Ott, Curt Dizon, Kevin Ingreso; Phil Younghusband, Patrick Reichelt.
Prediction: Vietnam 1-0 Philippines
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Predicted lineups Vietnam vs the Philippines for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 semifinal second leg. (Graphic: Trung Hung)
