Football

Vietnamese players tribute supporters after a 2-0 win in the ASEAN Hyundai Cup 2026 semi-finals' first leg on August 16. Việt Nam will host Malaysia in the second leg on August 19 in Hà Nội. Photos courtesy of VFF

HÀ NỘI — Ahead of the second leg of the ASEAN Hyundai Cup 2026 semi-finals on August 19, Việt Nam coach Kim Sang-sik says his team won't sit back on their two goal advantage and instead will go all out for a win at Hà Nội's Mỹ Đình Stadium.

Meanwhile his opposite number Tan Cheng Hoe believes Malaysia are capable of providing an upset and can overturn the two goal deficit despite playing away from home. 

In the first leg, Nguyễn Xuân Son's header and Faris Danish’s late own goal, gave Việt Nam one foot in the final.

But coach Kim believes there's still lots of work to do and called on his team to improve ahead of the second match. 

“I know that we have the advantage from the first leg with the 2-0 result but we still have to be focused," the coach said.

"Through our training and analysis we also want to improve our performance. In the first leg in Malaysia, we faced many difficulties and there were many chances for both sides. 

“We’ve tried to improve this through our training and our meetings and for the match tomorrow, we have more plans to attack and not lose our focus.”

Although Việt Nam are top scorers in the competition, only three of their 15 goals have come at home.

Kim Sang-sik and midfielder Phạm Xuân Manh at the press conference.

“Players are expected to give their best regardless of whether they play at home or away," said coach Kim.

"Our target is to win against any opponent. We will aim to score plenty of goals and put on a great match for the spectators,” he said.

Coach Tan encouraged his players to take motivation from the country’s 2014 against-the-odds win over Việt Nam when they overturned a first-leg loss.

Twelve years ago, the Harimau Malaya trailed 2-1 from the opening match at Shah Alam Stadium but secured a 4-2 second leg victory that sealed a 5-4 aggregate success to enter the final match.

Back in Mỹ Đình, Tan hoped to see a similar turnaround despite big challenges ahead.

“Definitely, that result really gave us confidence,” said Tan.

“At the same time, after 12 years, the players and the coaches keep on changing. 

“Of course, we want to have this kind of motivation. We know that playing against Việt Nam, they have given me a tough time, a hard time, but I'm still proud of my players.”

Coach Tan Cheng Hoe of Malaysia. Photo courtesy of FAM

The win in 2014 was the last time Malaysia defeated Việt Nam and Tan wanted to end their winless streak and secure a result that would take the country into the final for the first time since 2018, when he was also head coach.

“We really challenged Việt Nam to defend rather than attack,” he said of the first leg performance.

“This really gave me the positivity that if our players really focus, for every moment we attack, we probably can score." 

Tân said he respected Việt Nam who have a good set of players but in football, anything is possible if the team were confident and the players fought together. 

"Việt Nam will have plenty of fans cheering them on, but we are well-prepared too," he said.

"As a coach, I don't look at past statistics to determine the outcome. Instead, I strive to change those unfavourable results.

“There's no secret in football that the better team wins. Sometimes it happens that if you are in the right moment, right timing, you can beat any team.” — VNS