Two away goals in the first leg of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 final on Friday night in Hanoi have given Thailand a slender advantage in their bid to become back-to-back champions.
Following a 2-2 draw with Vietnam, the War Elephants' coach Mano Polking rued the missed opportunity to score a win over their arch-rivals at My Dinh Stadium.
A 24th-minute strike from Nguyen Tien Linh -- that moved him level with Teerasil Dangda in the race for the top scorer award -- sent Vietnam to the break with a narrow lead before goals from Poramet Arjvirai and Sarach Yooyen put Thailand in control.
Just when it seemed that the tie was leaning decisively in Thailand's favour, substitute Vu Van Thanh struck in the 88th minute to set up a thrilling second leg in Bangkok tomorrow.
After the match, Polking said: "It would have been a perfect result for us but during the last minute, their goalkeeper made a good save.
"It's a pity that we conceded the [second] goal during the last few minutes and it was a goal that we shouldn't have conceded.
"We came here today with the aim of scoring at least one away goal but we are leaving with two goals to our credit. However, it's disappointing that we conceded two goals as well."
Praising Poramet, Polking said: "He is a professional and he had worked very hard since the beginning of the tournament so we rewarded him with a place in the starting line-up. He played well and scored a beautiful goal."
Vietnam coach Park Hang-Seo admitted that the Thais now have the upper hand because of the two away goals on Friday night.
"It was the last match for me as the head coach in Vietnam and we actually wanted to win the match as a gift of every football fan but we couldn't do it.
"Of course, this isn't the result we wanted and now we are at a disadvantage after conceding two away goals. We won't give in and will try to win the trophy in Thailand.
"I have to get back and watch the game again. Right now, I cannot make any analyses about today match.
"Some players may have been under pressure playing at their home ground. They wanted to win but some may be did not follow the roles assigned to them."
About Theerathon Bunmathan, who made two assists during the game, the Korean coach said: "I don't like to rate the opponent players but Theerathon is a great player.
"But I think Vietnam also have players who could play the game at the same level as him [Theerathon]."
Thailand and Vietnam will play their final leg of the regional championship title showdown at Thammasat Stadium tomorrow with the kick-off scheduled for 7.30pm.
