The AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 turned out to be a memorable tournament with several thrills and spills. Some new records were achieved with old ones being shattered as we witnessed pulsating footballing action over a month or so.

We take a look at some of the milestones that were created during the recently concluded edition of ASEAN's premier competition.

And New...

Thailand's Teerasil Dangda went into the tournament on 15 goals, just two shy of Noh Alam Shah’s record of 17. He scored a brace against Myanmar in a comprehensive 4-0 victory in the group stage to move level with the Singaporean legend.

Teerasil then went onto net a further two goals against the Philippines thus, emerging as the outright top-scorer in the history of the AFF Suzuki Cup. He first opened his account in the competition back in at the 2008 edition. In addition, the 33-year-old became the top scorer for the fourth time (individually or jointly) cementing his stature as one of the AFF Suzuki Cup’s all-time greatest.

Thank you, Singapore

Traditionally, the competition has been jointly-hosted, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic meant the tournament had to be rescheduled with a centralised venue, Singapore, being chosen as the host.

Matches were held across two venues, National Stadium and the Bishan Stadium as, for the first time since 2000, the ASEAN football showpiece event was staged in a single nation.

Mr MVP

The Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo attacker was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for a record-extending third time. Chanathip also lifted the trophy for Thailand as the captain of the side, with this being the War Elephants’ sixth victory.

To add icing to the cake, the Nakhon Pathom native became the top-scorer in the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time in his career, jointly sharing the Golden Boot with Teerasil, Safawi Rasid of Malaysia and Philippines striker Bienvenido Maranon.

Centurion Safuwan

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During the competition, Singapore stalwart Safuwan Baharudin hit the landmark figure of 100 national team caps. Remarkably, it was the number 21’s 21st consecutive international start and 21st consecutive start in Suzuki Cup history having made his national team debut for Singapore at the age of 18 against Thailand in the King’s Cup in 2010.

Safuwan became the 14th player to have reached a century of appearances for the Lions, the most amongst any ASEAN nation. He joined the likes of current skipper Hariss Harun and former competition heroes such as Daniel Bennett, Baihakki Khaizan, Khairul Amri and Fandi Ahmad.

The Magnificent Seven

The highest-scoring match in the recently concluded competition was the Philippines’ rampant 7-0 win over Timor-Leste. Seven different players registered their names on the scoresheet that night. Martin Steuble, Amin Nazari, Angel Guirado, Patrick Reichelt, Jesper Nyholm and Bienvenido Maranon all scored in the first half with Kevin Ingreso rounding off the scoring.

It was only the second time in AFF Suzuki Cup history that seven players from the winning team had found the back of the net. Vietnam were the first side to do so in 2002 when they put nine past Cambodia in a 9-2 win in Jakarta.

Teenage Dreams

The AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 witnessed the emergence of several talented young players in the region. Among the goalscorers were four teenagers as Cambodia’s Sieng Chanthea and Indonesian trio Pratama Arhan, Ramai Rumakiek and Elkan Baggott all found the net during the tournament.

After a particularly promising campaign, Team Garuda's flying full-back Pratama was chosen to receive the GOAL NXGN Award for best Young Player of the Tournament.

Familiar Foes

This was the fourth meeting between Thailand and Indonesia in the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup. Both teams had previously squared off in 2000, 2002 and 2016 with Team Garuda’s wait for their maiden title set to continue.

The 2020 final meant that these two nations have now met in the final more than double any other match-up in the tournament showpiece.

War Elephants Reign Supreme

Thailand’s 6-2 aggregate win over Indonesia is the biggest margin of win over two legs in Suzuki Cup knockout stage history. The War Elephants emerged triumphant 4-0 in the first leg before a 2-2 stalemate in the second leg.

It eclipsed Singapore’s 5-2 win across two legs, also versus Indonesia in the year 2004.