Vietnam team doctor: 'No wrong treatment for Tuan Anh and Hoang Thinh'

Head doctor Dong Xuan Lam shared with VnExpress, after coach Huu Thang said that the medical team contributed to ruining the team's plan at the AFF Cup 2016.

Doctor Dong Xuan Lam closely followed Tuan Anh in Myanmar.

“I heard coach Huu Thang complain about the medical team. We accept it. Our working principle is that if there is a mistake, we will correct it, so that it is always best for the team. But I also want to say that the injury status of the players and the treatment direction are always fully reported to the head coach,” Dr. Dong Xuan Lam shared with VnExpress.

Previously, in a meeting with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien on January 16, Coach Huu Thang proposed to have high-quality foreign medical experts for the U22 team to prepare for the 2017 SEA Games. The strategist born in 1971 was not satisfied with the current medical team, even thinking that they misdiagnosed and treated Tuan Anh and Hoang Thinh, causing him to not have the services of two strategic players for the midfield in the recent AFF Cup 2016.

“There is no way we treated Tuan Anh wrongly. This player suffered a meniscus tear while training with Yokohama. Japanese doctors examined him carefully and came to a 50-50 conclusion about whether or not to have surgery. After consideration, we decided to choose therapy, combined with fitness expert Martin Forkel. However, Tuan Anh's condition did not improve, so we had to let him return to the club for surgery right before the AFF Cup started. It was a case of force majeure. Hoang Thinh suffered a groin tear four days before the first leg of the semi-final. This type of injury takes about six weeks to recover. No matter what we did, we could not let him recover immediately,” Dr. Dong Xuan Lam explained.

Mr. Lam said that during the nearly three-month training period, the medical team worked day and night, in addition to treating injuries, they also took turns massaging the players. The result was that only Hoang Thinh got injured while playing for the team, although the other players had accumulated many problems after a long time of fighting in the V-League, making them very susceptible to injury.

“Our expertise is not too far behind the world. Currently, the most modern machines and treatment methods of the world's sports medicine have also been applied to Vietnamese players. However, we still accept coach Huu Thang's opinion, the goal is to give the U22 team the best for the upcoming SEA Games,” added Dr. Dong Xuan Lam.

According to VNE