The AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) 2018 Cup will begin rolling on November 8, 2018. This Championship is a two-yearly international association football competition organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and contested by the national teams of Southeast Asia. It will be the 12th edition since the two-year Southeast Asian tournament was first held in 1996.
Before this event starts, we have summarized interesting facts as reported by Foxsports Asia.
1. The most unlucky team – Indonesian national team
The Garuda Troops have gone five times until the final round including the last Cup in 2016, but not once can they win it. In fact, the Indonesian national team had entered the finals in three consecutive editions those are, in 2000, 2002 and 2004. They lost 1-4 from Thailand in the year 2000. Two years later, Indonesia again lost to the same opponent through a shootout with a position 2-4 after a 2-2 draw at normal time. The situation was exacerbated after they surrendered 2-5 from the Singapore national team in 2004. In that year, the final match was held for the first time with home and away systems.
2. The most successful team – Thailand national team
The title of the king of Southeast Asian football is indeed worth pinning for the Thai national team which won five AFF Cup titles. The title was obtained in the inaugural edition (1996), 2000, 2002, and the last two championships in 2014 and 2016. The team nicknamed The War Elephants was only one title ahead of Singapore which had collected four titles. The other teams that have won are Vietnam in 2008 and Malaysia in 2010.
3. Victory with the biggest margin – Indonesian national team
Indonesia national team’s massive win over the Philippine national team with a score of 13-1 is still the biggest margin of victory in the history of the AFF Cup. The match took place in the 2002 AFF Cup Group A phase which was held at the Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK). Bambang Pamungkas and Zaenal Arief each bought four goals. The other five goals were scored by Budi Sudarsono, Imran Nahumarury, Bejo Sugiantoro (2 goals), and one own goal from Salomon Licuanan. The second biggest victory was held by Singapore which frustrated Laos with a score of 11-0 in the 2007 AFF Cup.
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