Coach Shin laughs when Indonesia drawn into same group as Vietnam

Coach Shin Tae-yong celebrates in the locker room after helping Indonesia defeat Jordan 4-1 in the 2024 U23 Asian Cup. Photo by PSSI

Since Shin was on vacation, he did not attend the ASEAN Cup group stage draw taking place in Hanoi on Tuesday. Instead, Indonesia national team leader Kombes Pol Surmadji attended and told the results to the South Korean coach over the phone.

"Coach Shin just laughed," Surmadji told Indonesian newspaper Bola. "This is an interesting draw because we will meet Vietnam again."

Shin is about to negotiate a new contract with the Football Association of Indonesia, after completing the tasks of passing the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup and 2024 U23 Asian Cup.

The old contract between the two sides will expire in June 2024, while the new contract is expected to last until July 2027 with the main goal of winning the ASEAN Cup.

Vietnam and Indonesia have created a big rivalry in recent years in Southeast Asia.

In the first three months of 2024, Indonesia beat Vietnam three times: 1-0 in the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup in January, 1-0 and 3-0 in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in March.

Coach Shin also helped Indonesia end their seven years without a win against Vietnam, since the semi-finals of the 2016 AFF Cup. They also defeated Vietnam for the first time at My Dinh Stadium 20 years after the 2004 AFF Cup group stage.

It took coach Shin four years as Indonesia coach to beat Vietnam. Before that, he drew two and lost two against coach Park Hang-seo' squad, including a 0-0 draw in the group stage of the 2020 AFF Cup, a 0-0 draw and a 2-0 loss in the semi-finals of the 2022 AFF Cup.

At the 2024 ASEAN Cup, Indonesia will play Vietnam in Hanoi on Nov. 30. The three remaining teams in group B are the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos.

Surmadji evaluates the draw result as good for Indonesia. The team are not afraid of Vietnam and aim to win the title for the first time, after finishing second six times.

"The situation is different now. Indonesian football is developing well," he said.

The 2024 ASEAN Cup will take place from Nov. 23 to Dec. 21 with 10 participating teams. Each team will play two home and two away matches in the group stage.

The top two teams of each group will advance to the semi-finals.