At 4 PM on October 5th, Malaysia will face Vietnam in the third-place match of the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Indonesia). This is not only about the overall ranking in the first tournament organized by FIFA in Southeast Asia, but also a clash between two rivals with a long history of competition.
Since the 2014 AFF Cup, Malaysia has only drawn or lost against Vietnam. Their only victory was a 4-0 win in the first leg of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, but Malaysia was subsequently handed a 0-3 defeat for using seven illegally naturalized players.
For coach Tan Cheng Hoe specifically, since taking over the Malaysian national team in 2018, he has never once beaten Vietnam. The coach, born in 1968, has drawn 2 and lost 4 in 6 matches against Vietnam.
Therefore, in the rematch on the afternoon of October 5th, coach Tan Cheng Hoe made no secret of his ambition to win.
"Yes, I want to win against Vietnam in this match, not only to avoid 'ending the FIFA ASEAN Cup campaign in disappointment,' but also because we haven't beaten them in over 10 years," Tan told Malaysian media before the match.
"We know that Vietnam's strength lies not only in their attack but also in the support of their naturalized players in defense. Malaysia needs to be well-prepared, needs to recover both mentally and physically, because Vietnam is a very strong team," said the Malaysian head coach.
In the third-place match, Vietnam was without the services of naturalized midfielder Do Hoang Hen, while another naturalized player, striker Nguyen Xuan Son, was also absent from the game. Malaysia also lost two key players: captain and central defender Dion Cools and striker Faisal Halim.
Source: https://anninhthudo.vn/12-nam-khong-the-thang-viet-nam-hlv-tuyen-malaysia-noi-gi-khi-tai-dau-post670851.antd
