Bangkok Post – Thais ready for Asean ‘El Clasico’

Ishii expects a tough tussle with Vietnam

Thailand and Vietnam will be battling to gain some sort of advantage over each other when the arch-rivals face off in the first leg of the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 final on Thursday night.

Vietnam will host the game at Viet Tri Stadium 8pm tonight and it will be televised live by Thai Rath TV (32), AIS Play, TrueSport 2 (667) and the BG Sports Channel on YouTube.

It will be a rematch of their last meeting in the final of the previous edition of the tournament in 2022 when the Thais won their seventh Asean championship crown.

Thailand beat the Philippines with a 4-3 aggregate to reach this year’s title showdown while Vietnam defeated Singapore with a 5-1 aggregate.

Thailand coach Masatada Ishii told a pre-match press conference yesterday that the War Elephants will be playing for victory.

“I have been the head coach for Thailand for one year and the game between Vietnam and Thailand is seen by many as an El Clasico,” said the Japanese coach.

“I don’t have any experience in the El Clasico matches with Vietnam in the Asean Cup at all.

“I think it’s good for our team that people are looking at the game between that two sides as El Clasico. I hope that there will be fair play.

“Playing Vietnam at home, I think, is just like facing the Philippines at their home. We lost the away match but we could turn the situation around. This game will be the same. We will try to see how we can get a good result and win the tournament again.”

Answering a question, Ishii said: “I don’t want to talk about our plans for Vietnam’s No.12 [Nguyen Xuan Son] because it’s about our tactics for the game.

“As for the team situation, we have many injured players and we have to consult with the team doctor all the time.

“This game can’t be compared with the match we had in September because there have been many changes in players. Vietnam are a more stable team now, so it will be a difficult game for us and their key man is Nguyen Xuan Son.

“We are here to play the final match with Vietnam, a team that is strong. We have both played eight matches and they won all of them but we lost one to the Philippines. We now have two matches left in the event with Vietnam and I would want to win both of them.”

Thailand skipper Peeradol Chamratsamee said: “I think the Vietnamese midfielders have very good combination. I have been seeing them since the previous Asean Cup competition and it is the main strength of their team.

“We meet again and it feels like a game between two regular competitors.

“We must create a good result. Our midfield, which is our team’s strength as well, must deliver in both legs of the final.

“The Vietnamese defenders have good discipline and help each other. They seem to be to be in higher spirit than two years ago.

“For the gameplan, it will depend on the coach how he wants to play as an away team and in the home game in Bangkok.”