Thailand knows who Xuan Son is

Immediately after the first leg of the final at Viet Tri Stadium ended with the home team's 2-1 victory over defending champion Thailand, regional media lavished praise on striker Nguyen Xuan Son and the Vietnamese team.

ESPN Asia's homepage has an article about Brazilian striker Nguyen Xuan Son, who scored a double against Thailand.

Looking back at the marks this striker has shown since wearing the Vietnamese national team jersey, the article commented that the central defender duo Pansa Hemviboon and Chalermsak Aukkee seemed to be the perfect combination to lock down Nguyen Xuan Son, but the reality is a completely different story.

If the opening header showed his remarkable close-range scoring instinct, the solo performance with the second goal showed how hard Nguyen Xuan Son always plays.

Winning the ball from Chalermsak from his own half, without any support from his teammates up front, it seemed like nothing would happen. But Nguyen Xuan Son sprinted towards the Thai goal, even passing Pansa and unleashing a shot into the far corner that defeated goalkeeper Patiwat Khammai, even from a difficult angle.

Nguyen Xuan Son even had more chances to complete his hat-trick, before Thailand raised hopes with a goal to reduce the score. There is still much to look forward to in the return leg next Sunday.

But if before the first leg, Thailand did not know who they would have to stop in Bangkok, now they have a clear idea. It is Nguyen Xuan Son, who can help the Vietnamese team conquer the regional throne for the third time.

Thai Daily News in its post-match commentary said that there was no longer any question of whether Nguyen Xuan Son was truly excellent or not, and that the question of midfielder Chalermsak answering a reporter before the match, “Who is Nguyen Xuan Son?” had now been clearly answered. If he had not scored to reduce the score to 1-2 to “atone for his sins,” the author of the article said that Chalermsak would have “lost sleep for a long time.”

Meanwhile, aseanutdfc.com, a forum on Southeast Asian football, commented that although Thailand had more possession of the ball, once again, the Vietnamese team showed that they did not need to hold on to the ball much to achieve the necessary results. The Vietnamese team even had 9 shots on target, 3 times more than Thailand.

Now, to dream of a third consecutive Southeast Asian championship, Thailand will have to try to do the same thing as they did against the Philippines in the semi-finals when they lost the first leg.

Meanwhile, Vietnam confidently heads to the trip to Bangkok with a solid defense and dangerous attacking ability with Nguyen Xuan Son.