'Magical trio' Hung Dung, Hoang Duc, Tuan Hai and the stars at My Dinh

Coach Park Hang-seo’s “renew, remake” of the Vietnamese team has never been easy. Because from the beginning of 2022, they had to travel far away in the context of lacking many key players to compete with the Australian team, who were eager to get a ticket to the World Cup. Losing 4 goals after 2 rounds on the away field, the heaviest defeat in the 3rd qualifying round, was thought to make the Korean coach’s team lose their motivation to compete and soon bankrupt all the plans that had been outlined.

But in reality, despite the heavy loss, the Vietnamese team is still proactive in taking the long road, taking one step back to move two steps forward, especially preparing for the important match against the Chinese team at My Dinh Stadium.

The Vietnamese team entered the field with a determined spirit in the match against China. Photo: Hai Hoang

The first thing Mr. Park Hang-seo did was to put captain midfielder Hung Dung into the match right from the start, after a long time of injury treatment to test the actual ability of a person he had especially trusted in the 2019 SEA Games campaign and the second qualifying round of the World Cup. After more than 70 minutes of playing with high responsibility, high speed, and great pressure, Hung Dung was given a rest to save his strength for the big match on the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year at home.

The second most important player is midfielder Hoang Duc, who was only brought onto the field from the beginning of the second half of the match against the Australian team, joining Hung Dung and Quang Hai in midfield, creating a completely new face for the Vietnamese team. It can be said that this is the "magical trio" ofVietnam National Teamwith solid defense, flexible when changing state and accurate when launching decisive blows. Mr. Park only tested for about 15 minutes and saw that everything could be favorable so he let Hung Dung rest, waiting for the opportunity in the next match.

The third player that cannot be ignored in the match against the Australian team is striker Tuan Hai, who was assigned to play as a starter for the first time. As a young striker, full of energy and will, Tuan Hai played the full 90 minutes against a higher-class opponent but did not show any sign of being outclassed. On the contrary, the more he played, the more mature and powerful Tuan Hai appeared against the opponent's defense. If he had been lucky, this striker could have scored at the beginning of the second half, not to mention his magical kick that created a winning shot for Cong Phuong later on. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese team missed the opportunity, but Tuan Hai's chance to play as a starter became clearer than ever.

The joy of the Vietnamese team when scoring a goal against the Chinese team. Photo courtesy: Lieu Hai Hoang

To say that, when Vietnamese fans and many places in the region and continent watched the explosive, effective match of the Vietnamese team against the Chinese team, many people understood that it was the result of a meticulous preparation process, with many calculations by Mr. Park Hang-seo and his team.

All 3 goals of the Vietnam team in the first match of Spring at My Dinh Stadium, miraculously had the mark of Hung Dung, Tuan Hai or Hoang Duc and the people who scored the decisive goals were people who are extremely lucky with the net of Chinese teams. That was Tan Tai, who assisted 2 of Tien Linh's 2 goals in the U22 friendly match a few years ago, who scored in both the first and second leg matches against the Chinese team, Tien Linh scored in all 3 matches against Chinese teams. And Van Duc, who overcame all doubts to score a masterpiece for the first time at My Dinh Stadium...

Meanwhile, Mr. Park Hang-seo once again boldly put a young center back on the field, despite having previously failed with the Thanh Binh experiment. But unlike the previous time, which was the direct cause of the goal conceded in extra time, this time Viet Anh was more mature than ever throughout the 45 minutes of the second half, playing well with his seniors to maintain the rear, helping the front line score to increase the score to 3-0 in the extreme joy of the home crowd, creating a "Southeast Asian shock" as public opinion once said.

The 3-1 victory over China brought the Vietnamese team its first point in the third qualifying round of the World Cup and signaled a cool breeze of change. Photo: Viet Linh

There will be more to talk about, highlighting the historic regional feat of the Vietnam National Team in the continental arena. It will be an affirmation of faith, a positive signal for the next steps of the Vietnam National Team, in which outstanding factors such as the "magical trio" Hung Dung, Hoang Duc, Quang Hai, great strikers such as Tien Linh, Tuan Hai, Van Duc... will be the pillars to nurture the hope of raising the level of Vietnamese football. And of course, without saying, everyone knows that there will be factors that have made things happen in the past who will voluntarily and forcedly give way to new rising stars and factors that stand firm in the long, arduous and harsh race, always having steps of supplementation and elimination as an inevitable rule...