Vietnam produced an impressive comeback in their 2-1 away win against Malaysia in the first leg of their AFF Suzuki Cup semifinal at Shah Alam Stadium. We identify three key points as both nations prepare to do it all over again in Wednesday's second leg at the My Dinh Statium in Hanoi.
1. Cometh the hour, cometh the Pham
The warning signs were clear in the pre-match buildup. In order for Malaysia to get something out of the match, they had to stop Pham Thanh Luong from dictating the tempo of the game. Alas, our words went unheeded and the diminutive midfielder wreaked havoc as he pried open the home defence and made right-back Zubir Azmi look ordinary in front of more than 80,000 fans at Shah Alam.
He started down the right wing, in place of the suspended Vu Minh Tuan. But the midfield shuffle did little to affect the cohesiveness as Pham still looked the most dominant player on the park, despite his pint-sized frame.
It took him all of nine minutes to skin the defence. He received the ball and incisively turned his marker Zubir, before releasing Le Cong Vinh whose shot was gathered by Khairul Fahmi Che Mat.
Even after Malaysia scored the opening goal against the run of play, Pham could be seen urging his teammates to re-start the game. It was as if he knew that the writing was on the wall. He abandoned his post on the right and made a run with the ball down the middle before releasing Nguyen Van Quyet. His shot was saved by Fahmi Che Mat only to see a loitering Vo Huy Toan slot home the rebound.
No fuss at all from Pham as he celebrated the goal and trotted back to the halfway line, eager to restart the game and torment his opponents further. Coach Toshiya Miura showed how important he considers Pham when he withdrew him from the game to ensure he wouldn't get suspended for the second leg.
His passing accuracy stands at 82.7% during the tournament and he is the man with the most crosses at 13.
Charyl Chappuis, Phil Younghusband and his teammate Van Quyet are all frontrunners for the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award. But if Thanh Luong delivers another midfield master class in the second leg against Malaysia, the organisers might as well start engraving his name on the glistening trophy.
2. Dollah must stop Mat Yo obsession
Dollah Salleh predicted that Norshahrul Idlan Talaha would come good for Malaysia in the Suzuki Cup. Two games into it, he still insisted the former Johor Darul Takzim forward would "do something special".
Four games played, four games substituted.
If Malaysia are to extend their improbable run in this tournament, Dollah needs to do what all great coaches do. Make the tough decisions.
Every coach has their favourite players whom they trust and Norshahrul is one of them. On his day, the striker is one of the best attacking players in Southeast Asia. But sadly, his bench warming duties at JDT have seen him lose confidence in his abilities. He is a pale shadow of that intelligent forward who can dribble and score against the best defences.
No doubt, he's tried to fill the void between the Malaysian midfielders and main striker Safee Sali. But the Vietnamese were just too quick in the tackle. Toshiya Miura knew that by stopping Mat Yo from getting much of the ball, Malaysia's attacking nous was severely blunted. It ended with Norshahrul having only one shot on goal. For a man who is blessed with the skillset he has, that says a lot about his current predicament.
33-year-old veteran Indra Putra Mahayuddin has had limited minutes in this tournament while Manaf Mamat has barely taken off his tracksuit. With a 2-1 deficit to erase, Dollah must decide if his loyalty towards Norshahrul is enough to overturn the result in Hanoi. If he wants to be the Harimau Malaya's head honcho for years to come, he has to take that tough decision because no one else can make that call.
3. Malaysia desperately need Cong Vinh's fire
Anyone who caught sight of Vietnam striker Le Cong Vinh's posture from the get go would have known that the man who starred in his country's solitary ASEAN title run six years ago was up for it again.
With fists clenched, chest puffed out and a dagger-like stare that lit up a rainy night in Shah Alam, Vietnam's captain was an inspiration for his teammates on the pitch.
While Safiq Rahim aimed to do the same as captain of Malaysia, his team never looked comfortable in their own cauldron. Rarely did you see a moment of desire or a lunging tackle that would get the crowd on their feet, yearning for more.
Safee, Norshahrul, S. Kunalan and the other veterans who have seen it all when they won the 2010 edition have to ask themselves: do we want a second ASEAN title as much as the Vietnamese do?
This was a team that came into the tournament with nothing to lose. On the back of four defeats in five friendlies, the nation wasn't expecting much from Dollah's men. But having exhumed their causeway rivals Singapore in late fashion in their brand new Sports Hub, surely the desire must have been ignited.
Come Thursday night in Hanoi, it will be all or nothing for these experienced heads. Several of them are unlikely to be around for the 2016 tournament. Satu Malaysia as they say, these boys have the talent and experience to work as one team to achieve it. And the 11 men on the pitch will be hoping that 30 million Malaysians will be behind them.