Vietnam 4-2 Pakistan: Nguyen Dinh Bac and the second half that turned the game around

In the 80th minute, Nguyen Dinh Bac received the ball on the left flank, beat two blue shirts and curled it into the far corner. That goal lifted the score to 3-1, and at the same time pulled an entire stuttering second half back into its proper rhythm. When Dinh Bac curled the ball into the far corner, a whole generation began to believe in miracles. At the other end, Patrik Le Giang stood still, watching two conceded goals sitting in the net, a reminder that this win was never as clean as the 4-2 scoreline.

That evening, the score told one story and the match told another. To understand the match, we have to start with the context.

The context before kick-off

The FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 ran from September 24 to October 5, bringing together 14 teams, with Hong Kong (China) involved as a co-host. Vietnam — a traditional powerhouse of regional football — entered the tournament as a title contender, but finished the group stage second in Group B with 6 points, after a 0-2 defeat to Thailand. Thailand reached the final against Indonesia. Vietnam dropped into the third-place playoff bracket, where the opponent was Malaysia.

For a team accustomed to sitting at the top of the region, having to play a third-place playoff is a below-expectation outcome. Before thinking about Malaysia, Vietnam had to get past Pakistan — an opponent from outside Southeast Asia, hailing from South Asia, carrying a very different weapon: physicality and contact.

Based on my experience following matches in the regional arena, this is exactly the kind of opponent Vietnam always struggles against: deep-lying, hard-tackling, rhythm-breaking. The first half of this match confirmed that fear.

A look at the first half

In the opening 45 minutes, Vietnam had more of the ball but created very few genuinely clear chances. This is the key point the scoreline does not tell: coach Kim Sang Sik's side controlled the tempo but not the opponent's penalty area. Vietnam's technical, short-passing game was broken up by a deep block that tackled high and was not afraid to foul.

In the 31st minute, Vietnam conceded. The goal came from a turnover and a misaligned defensive coordination, leading to a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. That moment bore the mark of a self-inflicted wound rather than a tactical strike from the opponent. Patrik Le Giang in goal could do nothing more.

The first half ended with Vietnam behind. A regional powerhouse trailing to an opponent from outside the region. The pitch stood empty, but every blade of grass still heard the heartbeat of the stands.

The second half: the bench rewrites the match

What changed the game did not come from a systemic tactical adjustment, but from personnel. Two changes — Nguyen Dinh Bac and Phan Tuan Tai — came on and immediately made Vietnam's attack sharper. This was a win that came from the bench, not from the formation.

Nguyen Dinh Bac was the focal point. He scored one and assisted two — three direct goal involvements. The 80th-minute goal was a solo run and a finish into the far corner; the 90th-minute assist was the dagger that killed the game. His introduction coincided exactly with Vietnam's revival.

Looking at how the goals were created, the degree of dependency becomes stark: in a match where Vietnam scored four, a substitute was directly involved in three of them. That is an overwhelming ratio, hard to call a coincidence. Vietnam is depending on individual moments more than on collective control. When Dinh Bac came on, the attack had an option. When he was absent, the team could not create clear chances against an inferior opponent.

Another bright spot was Williams Minh Hoang's first international goal at senior level — a player of overseas Vietnamese origin. Together with Patrik Le Giang in goal, this signals that the pipeline of overseas Vietnamese players is still being integrated into the national team, a talent-supply strategy that Indonesia and Malaysia are also pursuing.

The cracks the scoreline cannot hide

Vietnam won 4-2, but the team conceded twice — the second coming in the 88th minute, turning a seemingly safe position into a tense 3-2 before the match closed. Against an inferior opponent, conceding twice is a sign of holes in the defensive block: lapses in concentration, misaligned coordination, and the ability to stay calm late in the game.

The wider tournament picture shows a fuller image. Thailand reached the final. Indonesia also reached the final. Vietnam — the team that was once the region's benchmark — stood outside the last match. The win over Pakistan may soothe public opinion, but it does not erase the reality that Vietnam let Thailand pass them in the group stage.

A contrarian view

There is a reading of the match that the majority of Vietnamese fans may not want to hear: the 4-2 scoreline is glossing over a performance full of scratches. Seen with sober eyes, this is a win built on late moments and superior individual class, not on domination. Vietnam fell behind, needed the bench to turn it around, and still exposed two defensive holes.

Vietnam's model has been locked down this way many times before. For years, Vietnamese football has built its identity around technique, ball control and small combinations. That identity looks beautiful against open, evenly matched opponents. But it becomes fragile against a deep, physical, rhythm-breaking block. Pakistan — despite coming from South Asia and sitting outside the Southeast Asian structure — played exactly the way that confuses Vietnam most in the first half.

One thing is rarely mentioned: pressure is mounting on coach Kim Sang Sik. Having to bring on two changes to rescue a match against a weaker opponent raises questions about how the starting XI was chosen. His substitutions worked — that is a plus — but the need to substitute in order to escape is a minus. A win over Pakistan is not enough to make up for missing the final.

Saying this is not meant to deny the players' effort. On the contrary, it is precisely the individual moments of Dinh Bac and Minh Hoang that keep the fans' faith intact. But a big team cannot live forever on moments. The pitch stood empty, but the memory of the stands did not.

What remains after the whistle

Vietnam will face Malaysia in the third-place playoff — a match in which both teams sit in the region's second tier in this tournament. For the fans, it may be a match they "must win to salvage the tournament". For me, the bigger question lies behind it: will Vietnamese football dare to look straight at its own cracks — the reliance on individual moments and the confusion against physical opponents — instead of letting the 4-2 scoreline lull it to sleep one more time?

Collective memory is not built by beautiful scorelines. It is built by whether we dare to remember correctly.