When Thailand still needed the SEA Games men’s football gold medal

In terms of sports events like Olympic or Asian Games, football may not be so special. But the SEA Games is a completely different story.

First, football in Asia still has tournaments for the U23s. This is an obvious fact, showing that this bridge village still needs playgrounds for players who cannot afford to go directly to the professional football world in Europe. At the continental level that still maintains the U23 championship, even at a biennial density, certainly in a low-lying area like Southeast Asia, the U23 matches are even more important. That’s why the Southeast Asian Football Federation has to try to revive the U23 AFF Cup, even though it was an unpopular idea at first. It was born in 2015, but it was only held for the second time in 2019 and by 2022, it has only undergone four tournaments.

Therefore, the playing field for U23 in Southeast Asia is still very small. The football fields of Vietnam, Thailand and to some extent Malaysia have regularly attended the U23 Asian Cup finals in recent decades. But the level of this group is still far from the top group in the continent. The runner-up of U23 Vietnam in 2018 was once considered a “seismic”, because despite not focusing on U23, football platforms like Japan, Korea or Qatar, Iran are still at an outstanding level. Therefore, Southeast Asian football still needs to be forged through regional events. That’s also the reason why after the 2017 SEA Games applied the U22+2 mechanism, in the next SEA Games, the AFF had to change to U23+3 to recognize the importance of the SEA Games playground.

On the other hand, Thailand and Vietnam have both finished the Dubai Cup, a friendly tournament to prepare for the final round of Asia U23, with not very positive results. Both of the top football players in Southeast Asia realize that to be successful in the finals in Uzbekistan, they need more competitions to improve their loyalty. SEA Games 31 is the experience that Vietnam and Thailand both need.

Not only is it a professional element, football at the SEA Games also has a different meaning. Even though it’s just a sport, it’s counted by a single gold medal in the rankings, but sometimes it’s extremely important. Vietnamese football has to go to the 30th SEA Games to realize the “golden dream” for the first time after nearly 20 times attending the congress. Indonesia, after more than 30 years, has not been able to reach the gold medal since the last two times they did it thanks to the organization of the SEA Games at home.

In the history of the modern SEA Games – since 1977, only Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have won two or more football gold medals. Therefore, deciding to compete for a gold medal at the upcoming congress is a very meaningful goal for teachers and coaches Park Hang-seo.

For Thailand, the upcoming 31st SEA Games is even more important. At the 30th SEA Games, for the first time since the 2003 home tournament, the Vietnamese sports delegation ranked ahead of Thailand in the overall table of a congress. It was also the first time Vietnam won both men’s and women’s gold medals. Along with the first place in athletics, it can be said that Thai sports have never received such bitter defeats.

But the 31st SEA Games will be held in Vietnam, and Thailand may find it difficult to win the number one position in the entire team, and also difficult to excel in specific Olympic sports such as athletics and swimming. They therefore have to consider the “failure of honor” with the opportunity to acquire the gold medal in the football content, and especially cannot lose in the men’s football content, especially after they have just won the championship. AFF Cup 2020. That may be the reason why Thais have to change their plans, using their best resources – from coaches to players – for the SEA Games front.

Thailand’s change accidentally showed once again that Coach Park was right when he decided to summon U23 + 3. Thailand just beat Vietnam at the AFF Cup, but then they fell behind in the final qualifying round of the World Cup and the AFF U23 tournament. To restore the number one position in Southeast Asia, the Thai people need the SEA Games gold medal, as well as a victory on the U23 front. By now, Thailand’s determination is very clear, and Vietnamese football, as the host country of the SEA Games, also needs to seriously consider the challenge from its opponents.

SEA Games 31 thought it was not good, it turned out to be a race with the goal of four gold medals in the grass and futsal content. Perhaps never before has the football calendar at the congress witnessed such a fierce, unpredictable match. That is not to mention the ambitions of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Song Viet