ASEAN CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP B PREVIEW: FAMILIAR FOES REUNITE BUT IS IT FINALLY INDONESIA'S TIME?

Indonesia and Vietnam will renew their rivalry at the upcoming 2024 ASEAN Championship, where both sides will be regarded among the favourites to advance from Group B. Minh Hoang/Getty Images

If the next fortnight of Group B action at the 2024 ASEAN Championship feels a bit familiar, that is because it will be.

It was not too long ago that Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines were all locking horns in the second round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup -- which concluded back in June.

On that occasion, it was Indonesia who prevailed as they finished second in Group F to follow Iraq onto the next round, leaving the other two to turn their attentions to qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

As fate would have, the trio all found themselves -- along with Myanmar and Laos -- drawn in Group B of the upcoming ASEAN Championship. Once again, only two can advance to the semifinals.

Based on recent form, Indonesia will be the favourites and it is easy for their supporters to get excited at the prospect that their time has finally come.

After all, despite being one of the region's traditional powerhouses, Indonesia have never tasted ASEAN Championship glory and instead have been the perennial bridesmaids with six runners-up finishes previously.

Nonetheless, given the tournament does not take place during an official FIFA international window, Merah Putih will be without the majority of their Europe-based contingent that has played a significant role in their recent rise.

Despite the obvious immediate gratification of ending a 28-year trophy wait, Indonesia coach Shin Tae-Yong previously hinted that he will use the tournament to prepare for next year's Southeast Asian Games -- where they will be looking to successfully defend a gold medal that was also several painful decades in the making.

His squad selection suggests as much.

With Shin making the final cut to his now 24-man squad on Friday, a staggering 16 players selected are yet to make their international bow.

In fact, only four have more than ten caps to their names with Indonesia's average age for the tournament just 20 years.

Indonesia's last meeting with Philippines was a 2-0 win back in June that sealed their place in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images

In a way, the youthful nature of the team mirrors that from the 2020 edition, when they first showed signs of promise following the appointment of Shin.

Asnawi Mangkualam and Pratama Arhan were both breakout stars from that campaign and will be the senior figures now despite their relative youth, while Marselino Ferdinan -- whose tournament bow came two years ago -- will undoubtedly be their main man in the attacking third.

Indonesia have plenty of raw potential yet, considering this is an experimental side, perhaps their wait to taste ASEAN Championship glory might go on for a while longer.

Maybe, then, it should be Vietnam who are viewed as the dominant force in Group B.

After finishing runners-up last time out, Vietnam look closest to full strength among all the competitors, especially with Thailand and Malaysia also missing key personnel in the other group.

Nguyễn Quang Hải, Nguyễn Văn Toàn, Nguyễn Tiến Linh and Đỗ Duy Mạnh are all seasoned campaigners that were part of the last Vietnam team to win the tournament in 2018.

For a period of time around then, the Vietnamese were well and truly Southeast Asia's top team.

Having since been overtaken by Thailand and now Indonesia, Vietnam will have no shortage of motivation to show they are not going anywhere over the next month.

Another team that will be eager to prove they are not on the decline are Philippines.

After reaching the last four in four out of five editions between 2010 and 2018, they have since failed to make it out of the group stage in their past two attempts.

Philippines are also the only ones that have a significant number of overseas-based players available, including Michael Kempter and Michael Baldisimo who play in the Swiss and American top flights respectively.

While Indonesia have emerged as the leading lights of Southeast Asia at the moment, the fact that they have opted to blood youth as well as the presence of a couple of hungry rivals means it is definitely up in the air as to whether their time to become champions is now.

- Gabriel Tan

INDONESIA ISSUE HUGE STAT

With back-to-back wins against Vietnam over the past six days, Indonesia are now firmly on course to qualify for the third round of Asian qualiifers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. EPA/LUONG THAI LINH

 As most of Southeast Asia's representatives in the second round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tasted defeat on Tuesday, one team not only managed to pick up a crucial win -- but also issued a statement of intent in doing so.

Indonesia, who only in the previous edition finished bottom of their group with a solitary point to their names from eight outings, are now firmly in contention to march on to the next stage after completing the double over regional rivals Vietnam in the span of six days.

It must be noted that, while their earlier 1-0 triumph last Thursday came on home soil, this most recent victory came in the hostile setting of Hanoi's My Dinh National Stadium -- and it was an even more emphatic display as the Indonesians won 3-0, a result which also led to Vietnam's immediate dismissal of coach Philippe Troussier.

Merah Putih were sent on their way via first-half goals by Jay Idzes and Ragnar Oratmangoen -- both born in Netherlands but of Indonesian heritage who only made their international bow this window -- before a late goal from rising star Ramadhan Sananta sealed the comprehensive win.

The result means Indonesia now sit comfortably in second place in Group F, five points behind runaway leaders Iraq but with a handy four-point buffer between them and Vietnam.

Even if the Indonesians do lose their next game against Iraq on June 6, their fate remains in their own hands and victory over bottom side Philippines in their campaign finale would be enough to seal progress to the next stage of qualifying for the World Cup, as well as an automatic berth at the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

This latest pair of victories only further illustrates the steady rise they have been making under South Korean coach Shin Tae-Yong, who -- when he was appointed at the start of 2020 -- was widely seen as taking over a nation brimming with potential but with an uncanny habit of underperforming when it mattered most.

Prior to the start of this year, Indonesia had gone six games without a win against Vietnam dating back to 2016 but have now claimed three wins on the trot over their ASEAN counterparts.

The first of those back in January was a crucial result that saw them reach the Asian Cup knockout round for the first time ever.

Apart from that achievement, Indonesia have also reached the last four of the AFF Championship twice, won a first Southeast Asian Games gold medal since the men's football competition became an age-group tournament, and made the last 16 of the Asian Games.

Indonesia still have more to do before they can claim to be the top dogs of the region, but they certainly look to have the best chance of reaching the next stage of Asian qualifiers -- especially after an overall disappointing evening for Southeast Asian football on Tuesday.

Thailand, who have been widely regarded as the best ASEAN team alongside Vietnam in recent times, fell 3-0 at home to South Korea, while Singapore were unable to build on an impressive 2-2 draw with China last week as they lost to the same opposition 4-1 -- even if they did produce another encouraging display under new coach Tsutomu Ogura.

Lying third and fourth in Group C respectively, both are out of the reckoning for World Cup qualification as thing stand.

Meanwhile, after a bright start that saw them beat both Kyrgyz Republic and Chinese Taipei, back-to-back 2-0 losses to Oman -- while hardly embarrassing results -- mean Malaysia have slid to third spot in Group D.

Elsewhere, a real gulf in class was evident as Philippines were beaten 5-0 by Iraq, while Myanmar suffered a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Syria.

Again, both those heavy losses came against undeniably strong opposition but the margins of defeat do not paint a pretty picture for Southeast Asia.

On an evening to forget for the region, Indonesia deserve credit for the statement they delivered -- even if it did come against one of their own.

- Gabriel Tan