In the men's football final on the evening of 18/12, hosts Thailand led 2-0 thanks to goals from Yotsakorn Burapha in the 20th minute and Seksan Ratree in the 31st minute.

However, in the second half, Vietnam scored two goals within just 11 minutes, with a penalty kick from Nguyen Dinh Bac and an own goal by defender Waris Choolthong. In extra time, substitute forward Nguyen Thanh Nhan scored a close-range rebound goal, sealing a 3-2 victory for the visiting team.

Midfielder Le Van Thuan celebrates Nguyen Thanh Nhan's goal in Vietnam's 3-2 victory over Thailand in the SEA Games final at Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand, on the evening of 18/12. *Duc Dong*

This marks the first time Vietnam has come back to win after trailing Thailand by two goals. The victory is even sweeter as the match took place at the "cauldron" of Rajamangala Stadium, with thousands of Thai spectators, in the SEA Games final.

Vietnam has previously defeated Thailand 15 times across national team and U23 levels. Among these, one official match saw Vietnam come from behind against Thailand in the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 final, after trailing 1-0. Theoretically, this was a comeback, but coach Kim Sang-sik's team had already won the first leg 2-1, making the aggregate score 2-2 when they were 1-0 down in the second leg.

Beyond these two matches, Vietnam had never officially secured a comeback victory against Thailand at these two crucial football levels. A significant contributor to this historic achievement is coach Kim Sang-sik. The South Korean strategist made effective substitutions, bringing in Nguyen Thai Son for Nguyen Thai Quoc Cuong to regain control of the game, and later introducing Thanh Nhan and Le Van Thuan in the second half to help decide the match.

Coach Kim extends his perfect record in cup finals throughout his coaching career. He previously led Jeonbuk Hyundai to win the Korean Cup 2022 after defeating FC Seoul 5-3 over two legs in the final.

With Vietnam, the 49-year-old coach led the team to win the ASEAN Cup 2024, defeating Thailand 5-3 over two legs in the final in 1/2025. He also guided the team to win the U23 Southeast Asian Championship in 7/2025, after a 1-0 victory over Indonesia at Bung Karno Stadium. Now, he has secured a SEA Games gold medal, following a previous tournament dominated by Indonesia.

This is also Vietnam's 10th victory against Thailand at the U23 level across all competitions. It is the second victory against this opponent in a SEA Games final, after SEA Games 31, and it balances two losses in SEA Games 22 and 23.

Thanh Nhan's "golden goal" was scored in the 96th minute of extra time at Rajamangala Stadium, mirroring Nattaporn Phanrit's golden goal at My Dinh Stadium in the SEA Games 22 final.

Xuan Binh