At the Southeast Asian Championship, which ended on the evening of January 16, 2023, Thailand defeated Vietnam 1-0 in the second round final to win the final title with a 3-2 aggregate score. The loss was a huge blow to Vietnam, and to some extent the end of Vietnam's "golden generation" in 2018. Thailand played strongly throughout the game, not only playing their own characteristics, but also the hardness of the defense. It can be said that it played much better than our national soccer team. Therefore, it also shows that the national soccer team has another strong opponent on the way to the 2026 World Cup qualifying.
In the first leg between the two teams, they drew 2-2 with Thailand. In fact, the draw showed that Vietnam was lucky as the last goal of the tie happened in the 88th minute. In the second round, although Thailand had less than three shots on goal (six), Vietnam was much better in terms of attacking statistics. Of course, the match was also full of fireworks, which helped enrich the atmosphere of the stadium. That said, there is never a lack of a good fan base in Vietnam and Thailand.
This title also marks the seventh time Thailand has won the Southeast Asian Championship. The match also saw Vietnam set two humiliating records. First, falling to Thailand in two consecutive matches, one in the semifinals and the other in today's final; and second, Vietnam has been unable to beat Thailand for six consecutive times since 2018.
With the end of Vietnam's golden generation, the next step in the team's development will be on the agenda. According to previous reports, Vietnam has liked Troussier as the national team coach, which also means that team reorganization is inevitable. As we approach the Lunar New Year, the Vietnamese team lost the championship, which inevitably hampered Vietnamese fans during this Lunar New Year. By the way, it looks like it's not the Year of the Rabbit in Vietnam, but the Year of the Cat, which is funny.
For our Chinese men's soccer team, the ability to beat Thailand will be a very important hot topic. If China plays the Southeast Asian Championship, what will be the level? It must be a championship sequence, but whether it can beat Thailand is still unknown. Anyway, judging from Thailand's performance in this match, they will surely have no problem to enter the top 20 of the World Cup qualifiers. I am also looking forward to China to meet Thailand and try to score.
