Indonesia coach Alfred Riedl admits that his side were "lucky" in their 2-1 semifinal victory over Vietnam, and will need to improve in Wednesday's second leg in Hanoi to have any chance of moving through to the final.
And his opposing boss Nguyen Huu Thang declared that he was satisfied with Vietnam's performance at Stadion Pakansari on Saturday, and that "mental toughness" could help them in the long run.
The Indonesians need to get past the 2008 champions to make their first final in six years.
"We knew in the first half that our strikers were a little too far back," Riedl told the tournament's official website. "We wanted them to press higher against their defenders. We put them under pressure and got the penalty.
"But our opponents got much better later on and we lost the ball too easily, so in the end we were maybe a little bit lucky to get the win."
Vietnam finished top of the Yangon-based Group B with three wins out of three, but fell behind early in the seventh minute after Hansamu Pranata's headed goal for Indonesia.
Nguyen Van Quyet equalised from the penalty spot after 17 minutes before a Boas Salossa spot-kick five minutes after halftime gave Indonesia victory. But the Vietnamese had several opportunities to equalise in the second half.
����Match winner Boas Salossa! #AFFSuzukiCup #Indonesia #INAvVIE #Vietnam
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"We lost but my players showed their true style of play today and that made me happy," said Huu Thang.
"We showed mental toughness and competed very well on the field. I think a draw would have been a fair result but it wasn't to be."
"We still have a match at home so we still have a big chance.
"I was not surprised by the strength of Indonesia because such enthusiastic fans makes them stronger. I am not happy they scored from a penalty. However, I believe in my players."
Indonesia's will have their first-choice centre-back pairing of Fachruddin Aryanto and Rudolof Basna back for the second leg after suspension.
A key man in Hanoi will be Dutch-born midfielder Stefano Lilipaly, who has faced some intimidating crowds while playing for Telstar in the Netherlands.
"It was very important for us, for the supporters and for everyone in the country [to get the first-leg victory]," said Lilipaly, who scored the winner in Indonesia's 2-1 Group A victory over Singapore on Nov. 25.
#Indonesia's Stefano Lilipaly: "The most important thing now is to get through to the final." https://t.co/lB2Ck7UT4n #AFFSuzukiCup pic.twitter.com/8j2rrotjPA
- AFF Suzuki Cup (@affsuzukicup) December 4, 2016
"The win today gives us an enormous boost so now we will put in 100 per cent in the next game and hopefully we will win -- we will do everything we can.
"The most important thing now is to get through to the final."
Defending champions Thailand hold a 2-0 lead over Myanmar ahead of their semifinal, second leg tie in Bangkok on Thursday.
The final will be played over two legs on Dec. 14 and 17.