There was no doubt that Malaysia took on Vietnam in the final of the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup, there was a sizeable gap in almost every measurable metrics whether it is the speed, endurance, fitness levels, tactical nous or quality of the players within the two respective squads.
Fast forward 10 months later and it would seemed that Malaysia have stolen a march in closing the gap to Vietnam. Half of the probably starting eleven will be different from the one that walked out on the My Dinh Stadium pitch back in December last year.
It is a view shared by local journalist, Lam Thoa from VNExpress who like the rest of Vietnam was able to catch both of Malaysia's first two Group G matches against Indonesia and United Arab Emirates live on Vietnam television, such is the interest in this joint 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers.