The Vietnam national team learns a lesson from Thailand

Thailand has secured a spot in the 2026 ASEAN Cup final, but their 1-2 loss to Singapore at Rajamangala on the evening of August 18 serves as a warning for their opponents in the final match. More notably, the way Singapore made life difficult for the "War Elephants" also offers practical lessons for the Vietnam national team ahead of their second-leg semifinal against Malaysia tonight.

Thailand has reached the final, which is the most important thing for coach Anthony Hudson. However, the English manager cannot be satisfied with the way his team secured the spot, suffering their first defeat inthe 2026 ASEAN Cup.

After a 3-1 win in the first leg, Thailand had a huge advantage to plan for the road ahead. With a packed schedule of a match every three days plus travel time, managing energy was clearly a priority for the "War Elephants". Yet, that very calculation pushed Thailand into a tense match.

Singapore did not give up. Coach Gavin Lee's team had held Vietnam to a 0-0 draw in the group stage and continued to prove they are one of the toughest opponents in the tournament. At Rajamangala, Singapore played with great confidence, applied strong pressure, and created far more chances than the hosts.

Thailand had only two shots on target, while Singapore had seven shots on goal. Goalkeeper Kampon had to make several saves. Singapore opened the scoring at the end of the first half, and afterThailandequalized from a penalty, they took the lead again 2-1 thanks to an own goal.

If Singapore had capitalized better on their remaining chances, Thailand could have faced a real crisis.

This is a major lesson for the Vietnam national team. Coach Kim Sang Sik's squad also leads Malaysia 2-0 after the first leg, meaning the door to the final is wide open. But Malaysia now takes a lesson from Singapore to strive. Singapore proved that a lower-rated team can still make a title contender suffer if they play with nothing to lose.

Malaysia is forced to attack at My Dinh and will surely play with everything they have left. Therefore, Vietnam must stay alert. There is no need to push the match to a very high pace, and they should not rush to find a goal at all costs.

A pragmatic Vietnam team, controlling space, maintaining team shape, and forcing Malaysia to exhaust their energy would be a reasonable choice. If they score early, the advantage grows. But if they cannot score yet, patience is what is needed.

Thailand also showed another issue: the dense schedule causes even teams with deep squads to pay a price in terms of fitness.

Coach Anthony Hudson admitted that many Thai players were tired, even having to be substituted due to cramps. That is a thought-provoking signal for Coach Kim Sang Sik, as Vietnam's key players have also endured a grueling schedule.

Xuan Son, Dinh Bac, Hoang Duc, Tien Anh, Viet Anh, Thanh Chung, and many other players have all been operating at high intensity throughout the tournament. A semifinal is not just about winning or losing, but also about how much energy the team has left for the final after 90 minutes.

However, managing energy does not mean taking excessive risks with rotation at this point. Vietnam has not officially reached the final yet. The lesson from the 2014 AFF Cup, when they won 2-1 away against Malaysia but lost 2-4 at My Dinh, still holds true.

Malaysia is backed into a corner. Such an opponent becomes even more dangerous if Vietnam makes early mistakes. If they overcomeMalaysia, Vietnam could face Thailand in the final. Then, what happened at Rajamangala on the evening of August 18 becomes even more worth referencing.