Anh Đức

Southeast Asian football gets a new competition this week. The inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup kicks off on September 24 and runs to October 5, with 14 teams split across two divisions: the Premier Division hosted by Indonesia, and the Challenge Division in Hong Kong.

The champions take home US$1 million from a total pool of around $4 million, and because the whole thing sits inside the FIFA international window, every match counts towards the world rankings.

Việt Nam, still glowing from a successful ASEAN Championship defence in August, sit in Group B alongside Thailand, the Philippines and invited guests Pakistan. Group A pairs hosts Indonesia with Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh. Kim Sang-sik's side open against the Philippines on September 26 at Si Jalak Harupat in Bandung, then face Thailand on September 29 and Pakistan on October 2.

If that sounds like a comfortable draw, look again at what our rivals have done with their summer.

Indonesia's response to a disappointing ASEAN Championship has been to empty Europe. John Herdman named 23 players with around ten currently at European clubs, among them goalkeepers Emil Audero of Rayo Vallecano and Maarten Paes of Ajax, plus Elkan Baggott, Justin Hubner, Kevin Diks, Nathan Tjoe-A-On and Dean James in defence. Captain Jay Idzes misses out injured, picked up playing for Sassuolo against Juventus, which tells you everything about where this squad now operates. Federation chief Erick Thohir has made it clear he expects the title on home soil.

Malaysia have gone further still. Interim coach Tan Cheng Hoe retained just five players from the squad that lost both semi-final legs to us, and added three newly naturalised players confirmed eligible by FIFA this month: Brazilian striker Bergson da Silva, Argentine midfielder Manuel Hidalgo, a Benfica academy graduate, and Australian-born defender Brad Tapp of Johor Darul Ta'zim. Should both teams win their groups, the final would be a rematch against a Malaysia bearing almost no resemblance to the one we beat 4-0 on aggregate.

Việt Nam have not stood still either. Kim has kept the core of the championship-winning side and added two freshly naturalised players in: Williams Minh Hoàng, a 19-year-old forward of English and Vietnamese heritage who stands at 1.90m, and Nguyễn Adou Leygley Minh, a French-born defender at Công An Hà Nội. Ngô Đăng Khoa was called up late after Nguyễn Thành Chung's injury. Đoàn Văn Hậu is absent, serving a domestic suspension.

The concern, as ever, is the middle of the pitch. In the final at Mỹ Đình, the moment Nguyễn Hoàng Đức and Lê Phạm Thành Long both left the field, our midfield lost its shape entirely. That is a thin margin for a squad running on fumes. There has been no break between seasons; the ASEAN Championship swallowed it whole, and the V.League started immediately afterwards. Several players who looked imperious in August have looked ordinary in September.

One final oddity worth flagging: as of the time of writing, no Vietnamese broadcaster has secured the rights to show the tournament. After everything I wrote in April about VTV's World Cup deal and what legal, universal access means for this country, it would be strange if the defending regional champions played a new FIFA competition with nobody at home able to watch it legally.

Whether this tournament earns a permanent place in the calendar remains to be seen. But the teams have taken it seriously, the money is real, and the rankings points matter. Việt Nam arrive as the team to beat again, and that has never been a comfortable place to stand. — VNS