Following a string of inspiring achievements from the beginning of the year, Vietnamese football is receiving a lot of attention from sporting professionals and the international media. 

Recently, the sports website FOX Sports Asia published an article identifying Vietnam as the strongest regional team after performing well at the recently-concluded Asian Games in Indonesia.

Vietnam receive FOX Sports Asia’s strongest rating ahead of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 championship. 

With a rating of 8.5, Vietnam were ranked highest among the Southeast Asian nations who participated in the Asian games and this will be a big boost to their bid in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship Suzuki Cup 2018 being held later this year, according to FOX Sports Asia.

In the article, Jaimer Dela Cruz writes that Vietnam’s squad features a host of promising young players who took second place in the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship earlier this year.

They finished first in the 2018 Asian Games group stages with a perfect slate, winning three games out of three without conceding any goals. FOX Sports Asia were particularly impressed with the victory of the Vietnamese players in their last group match against eventual finalists Japan, as they shocked Japan with a win through a solitary goal from Nguyen Quang Hai in the third minute of the match.

According to the author of the article, the statistics of the match show the most impressive side of the performance, with Vietnam have six times as many shots as the Japanese side. “They also controlled possession 64% of the time, a real testament that Vietnam’s consistency in their youth program really is paying off,” it stated.

Continuing their journey into the quarterfinals, Vietnam excelled in defeating Syria with the only goal coming in extra time thanks to Nguyen Van Toan to reach the semi-finals against eventual champions Republic of Korea (ROK). Although losing 3-1 to strong opponents, Vietnam still marked the final with a stunning goal from a free kick by substitute Tran Minh Vuong.

Because of these impressive achievements, Jaimer Dela Cruz was not hesitant to award 8.5 points to Vietnam, the highest rating among the teams from Southeast Asia will attend the Asian Cup next year in the UAE. According to the writer, this will be a big push for Vietnam to play well at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 with the determination to bring the trophy back to Hanoi, where they were crowned the champions a decade ago.

Malaysia also impress at the 2018 Asian Games.

With a score of 7.5, Malaysia were ranked second behind Vietnam according to FOX Sports Asia, thanks to their impressive performances in the freshly-concluded Asian Games. Malaysian players finished the group stage in top spot, despite being in a tough group with Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan and the gold medalists ROK.

The Malayan Tigers marked a stunning moment in the Games as they beat the ROK 2-1 to win the early ticket to the knockout phase. But their journey came to an end with a 1-0 loss to the Japanese team in the next round after conceding a penalty in the last minutes of the match.

Indonesia are the third-ranked team in FOX Sports Asia rating, with a score of 6.5. According to Jaimer Dela Cruz, the home team of the 2018 Asian Games did not disappoint their fans as they ended the group stage with three wins and 11 goals.

Although they fell to defeat in the first knock-out round after a penalty shoot-out against the UAE, this can still be considered an impressive journey for Indonesia, the article said. “This gave them a good feel of the team heading into Suzuki Cup and gave them more time for preparations, adjustments and improvements,” FOX Sports Asia said.

Thailand had a disappointing Asian Games.

Notably, Southeast Asian football powerhouse Thailand were not highly rated by FOX Sports Asia, only ranking fifth with a score of 4, lower than No. 4 ranked Myanmar (rating 6). The rating is understandable as Thai football has not had good results in recent tournaments. In the recently-concluded Asian Games, the Thai team only earned two points after three matches and were eliminated in the group stage.

“It might be strange but we are not used to seeing Thailand not win a game in the group stages of any tournament considering the firepower behind their squad, regardless if it’s their U-23 or the senior team,” FOX Sports Asia also warns that if they continue in such a form at the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup, it will be difficult for the defending champions to retain their throne.

Nhan Dan