AFF Championship finalists Vietnam will look to build on their promising form when they play host to Syria in an international friendly at the San van Dong Thien Truong Stadium on Tuesday.
The hosts will come into this match with great confidence after a solid 1-0 win over Hong Kong last week, while the visitors will need to address a poor run of form, which included a 1-0 loss to Bahrain last time out.
Match preview
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Following two matches without a win, the Golden Star Warriors clinched an impressive win over Hong Kong with a 32nd-minute penalty from Que Ngoc Hai and will now look to wrap up their international mid-year fixtures by going two-in-a-row against a struggling opponent.
Vietnam have improved significantly over the last year, and with that win last week, they have now only lost one match in their last 15 internationals, which came at the start of the year against Thailand.
During that run, Vietnam have recorded 10 wins, four draws and one loss, maintaining an impressive 11 clean sheets while scoring two or more goals on nine occasions.
Their excellent form in recent times has seen their FIFA ranking improve significantly, from outside the top 100 in 2019 up to 95th in the world at present, and they will be aiming to return to their all-time peak ranking of 93rd when they head into the AFC Asian Cup early next year.
They are unbeaten against this opponent in their last two encounters, the most recent of which ended in a 2-0 victory in an international friendly back in 2016, and they will be firmly expected to earn another win in this one.
In contrast to their opponents, Syria have found wins hard to come by over the last 12 months, and following their 1-0 loss to Bahrain in March this year, the visitors have only recorded one win in their last eight matches.
The solitary win that they did manage in that time came in a 3-1 triumph over Thailand earlier this year, with Omar Al Somah, Omar Khribin and Mohamad Al Hallak all finding the net to bring an end to a six-match losing streak dating back to September 2022.
While their opponents have been creeping up the world ranking in recent years, Syria have found themselves headed in the wrong direction, dropping from 76th in the world in 2020 to 90th at present.
Syrian head coach Hector Cuper will be taking 25 players to Vietnam for this match, among which will be 30-year-old midfielder Mahmoud Al-Mawas, who has registered 15 goals for his country in his 87 appearances.
The last time Syria got the better of Vietnam was in the Asian Cup qualifiers back in 2009, where they managed to hold on to a 1-0 lead, but with their opponents having improved significantly in recent times, the visitors will need to be at their absolute best to get anything from this one.
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Team News
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Vietnam's solid performance against Hong Kong last week could mean that Philippe Troussier opts for a similar lineup with Tuan Hai Pham and Van Tung Nguyen leading the line.
Goalscorer Hai should continue in central defence with Thanh Binh Nguyen and Do Duy Manh, while Nguyen Hoang Duc will look to provide the creativity in the Vietnamese engine room.
For Syria, Al-Mawas's recall to the squad should mean that the veteran midfielder slots straight back into the starting lineup in place of Simon Amin or Ammar Ramadan.
Khirbin, who is the country's joint-fifth all-time top scorer with 22 goals, will miss out on this encounter through injury which opens the door for the UAE-based attacker, Mardik Mardikian, to return to the starting 11.
Vietnam possible starting lineup:
Lam; Tai, Nguyen, Hai, Manh, Hau; NQ Hai, Duc, Anh; VT Nguyen, Pham
Syria possible starting lineup:
Alma; Krouma, Jeniat, Al-Midani, Arnaout; Al-Marmour, Al-Mawas, Amin, Youssef; Mardikian, Al-Hallak
We say: Vietnam 2-0 Syria
The hosts are on a 10-match unbeaten streak at home and seem to be improving with each match. They have also maintained an impressive tally of clean sheets, and we fancy they can do likewise here against a Syrian side that are far from prolific in front of goal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
