Image Of GREAT Forces Vietnam Creates The Indonesian National Team: Thailand Only Through

Vietnam is confirmed to be the opponent of the Indonesian national team in the 2022 AFF Cup semifinals. (Photo: Twitter/@affmecup)

JAKARTA The opportunity for the Indonesian national team to reach the 2022 AFF Cup final is relatively small. It takes extra hard work and also luck to get a ticket to the final party.

Observations of football, Kesit Budi Handoyo, said Vietnam was a rather difficult force for Indonesia to deal with. Statistics on paper show that.

"The right is still there. Only when facing Vietnam, we will not easily pass it. So, we need to work hard," said Kesit when contacted by VOI on Tuesday, January 3.

Currently ranked FIFA, Vietnam is in its 96th position. They are far above the strengths of other Southeast Asia, namely Thailand is ranked 11th and Malaysia is in 145th place, and Indonesia is in 151th position.

Kesit emphasized that FIFA ranking is actually not a guarantee. However, the data shows that Vietnam is a team that is experiencing rapid development when compared to other Southeast Asian countries.

"Don't forget that they are the only country from Southeast Asia that successfully advanced until the third round of World Cup qualifying rounds. Thailand just passed," he said.

Although they have not been able to qualify for the World Cup, the opportunity to compete with Asian powers such as Iran and Japan is a plus for Vietnam. Their abilities are getting honed.

Kesit said, it was not surprising that Vietnam was once again favorite to win the AFF this year. What's more, they went through the group stage without ever feeling conceded.

"Naturally, if they are called a team that is favorite, they will be able to win. This will be a tough job for Shin Tae Yong again. Their strength is terrible. They are clean sheet in the group phase," he said.

Indonesia has been recorded for a long time and has never won over Veitnam in the AFF Cup. The last time Garuda was able to beat The Golden Stars was in the semifinals in 2016.

At that time, Indonesia was thin 2-1 in the first leg and drew 2-2 in the second leg. As for the latest meeting in the 2020 edition of the group phase, Indonesia only played a goalless draw.