Vietnam reaches new milestones with victory over Singapore

Singapore, unable to play at the National Stadium due to concerts, chose Jalan Besar Stadium’s artificial turf instead of Bishan Stadium’s natural grass pitch. This decision came with confidence as Singapore has been unbeaten at Jalan Besar for almost 11 years. Their last defeat on the ground was a 3-1 loss to Jordan in the 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers in 2014.

Since then, they have been unbeaten in ten games and have been able to hold their own against stronger opponents such as Palestine, Turkmenistan, Malaysia and Vietnam. Notably, they defeated Vietnam in the group stage of the 2022 AFF Cup, now ASEAN Cup, with a 0-0 draw.

That streak ended on Thursday evening when late goals from Nguyen Tien Linh and Nguyen Xuan Son secured the visitors’ win.

The victory not only gave Vietnam a significant advantage ahead of Sunday’s second leg at the Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho, but also marked their first win by more than one goal against Singapore. Previously, Vietnam managed only a narrow victory in its six visits to Singapore.

The 2-0 win was also a first for Vietnam in the first leg of the knockout round of the ASEAN Cup. In their last 11 semi-final and final first leg matches, their best margin of victory has been a single goal, including the legendary 2-1 win over Thailand in the first leg of the 2008 AFF Cup final.

With Thursday’s result, Vietnam extended its unbeaten streak against Singapore to 15 games, the longest against any opponent in the team’s history. After Singapore, Vietnam is also unbeaten against Laos in 14 games. The last time Vietnam lost to Singapore was in the final of the Tiger Cup, now known as the ASEAN Cup, in 1998, when centre-back Ramu Sasikumar’s goal secured a 1-0 win at the Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi.

Singapore marked the victory by inviting Sasikumar and several players from its 1998 title-winning squad to support the team in Jalan Besar on Thursday. Tens of thousands of ticketless fans gathered in malls to watch the game on big screens. Despite showing resilience and applying pressure in the second half, Singapore ran out of steam and conceded two late goals.