Indonesian fans hope Vietnam won't give up in ASEAN Cup

According to the group stage draw in Hanoi on Tuesday, Vietnam are in group B with Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar and Laos. Defending champion Thailand are in group A with Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and the winner of the playoff between Brunei and Timor Leste.

After the draw, Indonesian newspaper OkeZone said that Indonesia fell into the "group of death" with Vietnam. Newspaper Bola commented that the results of the draw were "interesting", because Vietnam and Indonesia have encountered many times in the past.

Meanwhile, CNN Indonesia quoted fans as saying that coach Shin Tae-yong and his team will continue to win and hope that Vietnam "won't give up."

Indonesia are optimistic because they won the three recent games against Vietnam, in the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup and the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. Thanks to a squad with most of the players growing up in Europe, Shin's team scored five goals and conceded none in those three games.

Newspaper Liputan6 said that Indonesia have "overwhelmed" Vietnam recently, on many levels.

"Under Philippe Troussier, Vietnam always lost to Indonesia," it wrote. "Even though VFF fired Troussier and replaced him with Kim Sang-sik, the South Korean coach still left many doubts because his style is similar to Troussier."

The Football Association of Indonesia is continuing to naturalize more players for the 2024 ASEAN Cup which will take place at the end of this year. However, the media is also concerned that coach Shin will not have the best squad because the tournament is not on the FIFA calendar, so clubs have the right to refuse to release the players for the national team.

The 2024 ASEAN Cup takes place from Nov. 23 to Dec. 21 with 10 participating teams, with Brunei and Timor Leste deciding the 10th slot by a playoff. 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 semifinals. The semifinals and final will have two legs.

Vietnam will begin the campaign with an away match against Laos on Nov. 24, then return home to host Indonesia on Nov. 30. The team will be guests in the Philippines on Dec. 3, four days before hosting Myanmar in the final round.

Vietnam have won the title twice, in 2008 and 2018, while Indonesia have reached the final six times but failed to win any.