The legend of the AFF Suzuki Cup – the successor to the Tiger Cup and Asean Football Championship – continues to grow with full house crowds and millions of television viewers witnessing the crowning of first time champions, Vietnam, two years ago.
The tournament, first staged in 1996, fires old rivalries and unearths new talent in a region transfixed by the beautiful game.
Football has long been regarded as the Asean region's most popular sport with teams battling for supremacy in the hotly contested South East Asian (SEA) Games football tournament prior to the introduction of the Asean Football Championship.
Every two years, the AFF Suzuki Cup intensifies the passion that is felt for the game throughout Asean.
As the only regional football competition to feature the senior teams of the Asean nations, the AFF Suzuki Cup has firmly supplanted the SEA Games, which is now contested at under-23 level.
Vietnam were the success story of the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup.
They tore up the script as they overcame raging favourites Thailand to lift the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time in their history after a dramatic denouement to an enthralling tournament.
With three minutes of added time gone in Hanoi's My Dinh Stadium, Vietnam's superstar striker Le Cong Vinh sealed the title with a nod of his highly prized head to send the nation into a frenzy.
The golden goal from the golden boy earned Vietnam a 1-1 draw with Thailand on the night and a 3-2 aggregate victory after their surprise win in the first leg of the final in Bangkok.
"I'm feeling overjoyed at the moment," said Vietnam coach Henrique Calisto, who won an intriguing tactical battle with Thailand's Peter Reid. "The difference with this team compared to Vietnam sides in the past is that they believe in themselves and they fought all the way until the final whistle."
The inaugural tournament in Singapore proved to be an unforgettable two-week football extravaganza, which drew large crowds to the National Stadium with millions more watching on television.
Overwhelming favourites Thailand lifted the trophy after defeating Malaysia 1-0 in a hard-fought final. The foundation had been set for an exciting competition that would continue to grab the attention of fans throughout South East Asia.
The passion was even more apparent two years later when the tournament was played in Vietnam. Riding on a wave of national euphoria the hosts swept all before them, trouncing champions Thailand 3-0 to reach the final.
The title was to elude Vietnam though as they went down 1-0 to unfancied Singapore in the final in one of the competition's biggest shocks to date.
Thailand reasserted their dominance when they hosted the event for the first time in 2000. With star striker Kiatisuk 'Zico' Senamuang in inspired form, the Thais powered their way to the title, comfortably winning all five games. In the final at Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium, a hat-trick by Worrawoot Srimaka fired the Thais to a decisive 4-1 win over Indonesia.
The 2002 tournament was more tightly contested with the Thais just scraping into the semi-finals after losing 3-1 to Malaysia and drawing 1-1 with Singapore in the group stage.
Thailand took a 2-0 half-time lead over hosts Indonesia in the final at the Gelora Bungkarno Stadium in Jakarta. However, the Indonesians battled back to level the score and force the game to a penalty shootout, which Thailand won 4-2.
In their bid for a third straight title in 2004, Thailand fielded the so called 'Young Bloods' but the gamble of relying on youth failed to pay off and the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage in Malaysia. Co-hosts Vietnam also failed to reach the semis that matched Singapore with Myanmar while Malaysia took on Indonesia.
Singapore and Indonesia won through to a dramatic two-legged final with Singapore clinching their second title 5-2 on aggregate (3-1, 2-1) with a couple of fantastic performances. Singapore, guided by inspirational coach Raddy Avramovic, retained the title in dramatic fashion in early 2007. The Lions and Thailand took full advantage of co-hosting the tournament with both topping their groups.
The defending champions pipped Vietnam to top spot on goal difference with Indonesia missing out on the knockout stages despite also amassing five points. Thailand comfortably made the semi-finals with wins over the Philippines and Malaysia and a draw with Myanmar.
They were joined in the last four by Malaysia after Myanmar were surprisingly held to a draw by the Philippines and finished a point adrift of the Malaysians.
Singapore edged into the final with a 5-4 penalty shootout victory over Malaysia after the two-legged semi had ended 2-2 on aggregate. They were joined by Thailand who beat Vietnam 2-0 in the away leg and held them to a goalless draw in Bangkok.
The final was a tense affair with Singapore taking a 2-1 lead after the first leg in a home game that was delayed for more than 10 minutes after the Thai team walked off the park to protest a penalty decision.
In the second leg in front of a capacity crowd of 30,000 at the Supachalasai Stadium, Pipat Thonkanya gave Thailand a ray of hope with a first half goal that took his side level on aggregate before a wonder strike from Khairul Amri in the 82nd minute sealed the issue for the titleholders.
Noh Alam Shah of Singapore was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and the Golden Boot Award winner for hammering home 10 goals, seven of them against Laos.
Year Champions Runners-up Score Venue:
1996 Thailand Malaysia 1-0 Singapore
1998 Singapore Vietnam 1-0 Hanoi
2000 Thailand Indonesia 4-1 Bangkok
2002 Thailand Indonesia 2-2 (4-2 pens) Jakarta
2004 Singapore Indonesia (5-2 on aggregate, 3-1 first leg in Jakarta, 2-1 second leg in Singapore) Group stages, Vietnam and Malaysia
2007 Singapore Thailand (3-2 on aggregate, 2-1 first leg in Singapore, 1-1 second leg in Bangkok) Group stages, Thailand and Singapore
2008 Vietnam Thailand (3-2 on aggregate, 2-1 first leg in Bangkok, 1-1 second leg in Hanoi. Group stages, Thailand (Phuket) and Indonesia (Jakarta)
Three-time champions Thailand will be going all out to reach the pinnacle of South-East Asian football once again after slipping on the final ascent at the last two editions of the AFF Suzuki Cup.
