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Who will prevail when free-scoring Thailand clash with impregnable Vietnam in Southeast Asian Games final?

It is the classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, between two teams that have dominated Southeast Asian football in the past decade.

On Sunday, the men's football gold medal match at the 31st Southeast Asian Games will pit a prolific Thailand -- who boast the competition's best attack with 13 goals so far -- against a miserly Vietnam, who are yet to let in a goal in five matches.

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Something has to give -- so who will it be that blinks first?

On one hand, it is almost impossible to imagine that the free-scoring Thais - the SEA Games 16-time record gold medallists -- can be kept at bay, for they not only boast quality but quantity in their goal-scoring options.

Their 13-goal haul has been spread across seven different players (along with two own-goals) with Patrik Gustavsson leading the way with three, while Ekanit Panya and Korawich Tasa each have a couple to their names.

Perhaps the biggest testament to their wealth of avenues to goal is the fact that the Thailand attackers have taken turns to have an impact and, at times, even from the bench, with coach Alexandre Polking unafraid to regularly rotate his starting XI with the depth at his disposal.

While he has only hit the scoreboard once, plenty of the good work Thailand do in the final third is down to the creative influence of Worachit Kanitsribampen, whose displays have been exactly what would have been expected of an experienced campaigner brought in as one of the team's three overage players.

With Worachit pulling the strings and someone like Ekanit constantly posing a threat from a wider area, it is no surprise that the Thais are able to create a steady stream of opportunities that are ultimately taken advantage of.

To give credit where it is due, the War Elephants have also been steady at the back with their defence leaking only two goals so far, but it is apparent they play their best football when they adopt the free-flowing, attacking approach that Polking advocates.

Having said that, Thailand are yet to come up against a side like defending champions Vietnam in this edition of the SEA Games.

The record of no goals conceded in five games is emblematic of the football the Vietnamese are renowned for under coach Park Hang-seo.

Most impressively, this is a new batch of youngsters at U-23 level without any of the standout names from the golden generation that currently star for the senior team, such as Vu Van Thanh, Do Duy Manh or Bui Tien Dung.

There is talent at Park's disposal, especially in the form of defensive general Bui Hoang Viet Anh and flying wing-back Le Van Do.

But the fact that these youngsters are already playing with the trademark stability and organisation that the South Korean builds his teams on is testimony to the work he does in his lengthy training camps in the lead-up to tournaments.

While far from prolific, Vietnam do also have the ability to hurt teams going forward and Nguyen Tien Linh -- barring a couple of poor misses before scoring the extra-time winner in the semifinal win over Malaysia -- remains a striker capable of singlehandedly posing a handful to any opposition.

It is clear that Sunday's gold medal match will pit an enterprising outfit who are also steady at the back against a resolute team who also pose a threat going forward.

One will have to give way, unless the tie goes all the way to the penalty shootout.

Either way, it should make for a SEA Games -- and Southeast Asian football -- classic.