KUALA LUMPUR: Vietnam edged closer towards wresting the 2024 ASEAN Championship after beating defending champion Thailand 2-1 in the first leg of the two-leg final at the Phu Tho Provincial Stadium last night.
Vietnam’s prolific striker Rafaelson Fernandes was the toast of the home side tonight after scoring a brace in the second half to give his team a slim margin for the return leg to be held in Thailand.
The first half saw Vietnam sending a warning to the visiting Thai side with several dangerous attempts including Fernandes’ shot in the ninth minute but only strayed to the right side of the goal.
Thailand under Masatada Ishii also came close to scoring through Ekanit Panya but was denied by the efficiency of goalkeeper Nguyen Trieu in the 22nd minute while Patrik Gustavsson also came close to finishing in the 37th minute but his shot strayed over the crossbar.
Vietnam under Kim Sang Sik continued to launch attacks and almost broke the deadlock through Fernandes after receiving a pass from Pham Manh but the ball just crossed the goal line with no takers, well into first half injury time.
As the second half started, the home team finally opened the scoring with two goals coming from the clinical finishing of their Vietnamese-Brazilian star Fernandes or his Vietnamese name Nguyen Xuan Son in the 59th and 73rd minutes respectively, thus putting the Golden Dragons 2-0 in front.
The two goals however, did not dampen the enthusiasm of the visitors to close the gap when defender Chalermsak Aukkee headed the ball into the net after receiving a pass from Suphanat Mueanta in the 83rd minute to keep his team in the competition.
The result remained 2-1 until the final whistle despite the referee adding on six extra minutes due to injuries and stoppages.
Thailand will host Vietnam in the second leg final on Sunday at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
For the record, Thailand emerged as the champion for two consecutive years, winning the 2020 and 2022 editions while Vietnam was the champion in 2018. – BERNAMA
