Cong Phuong, Van Toan, Xuan Truong are being turned into puppets!

(Baonghean.vn) -The Thanh Nien Newspaper International U21 Tournament is creating a great attraction with the presence of the most promising talents of Vietnamese football appearing in the U21 Vietnam and U21 HAGL teams...

Before the match between the defending champion U21 HAGL and U21 Thailand took place, a ticket fever had formed around Thong Nhat Stadium. As expected, the match between “Mr. Duc’s children” and their opponents of the same age from the “Land of the Golden Pagoda”, in a festival-like atmosphere on the stadium with a capacity of about 20,000 spectators, had no empty seats.

But on the pitch, the lackluster, lifeless performance of Cong Phuong and his teammates made people feel that U21 HAGL were the ones under more pressure than their opponents, despite the enthusiastic cheering of a large number of fans.

For more than 90 minutes in the match with U21 Thailand, the players who received a lot of expectations such as: Xuan Truong, Cong Phuong, Van Toan, Van Thanh... did not play up to their inherent class and form. The coordination lacked creativity, lacked sharpness and precision, was slow and vicious... causing the attacks of U21 HAGL to fall into a deadlock like "hitting the wall". Frankly speaking, losing with a score of 0-1 was still lucky for U21 HAGL in a match where they were inferior to their opponents in many aspects.

Striker Cong Phuong continues to disappoint. Photo: Internet.

The most disappointing player was the one who was expected the most - striker Nguyen Cong Phuong. Lost in the midst of the opposition players, lacking ideas in ball control, rarely lacking feeling in finishing... that image is far from what made people give him the nickname "Vietnamese Messi". It is not an exaggeration to say that compared to 2 years ago, Phuong has not improved at all, if not to say he has declined miserably.

Xuan Truong is not doing much better. Having just returned from the AFF Cup, a tournament in which the player from Tuyen Quang played extremely well for the national team, but in the match against U21 Thailand, Xuan Truong was as great as he had done in the regional tournament. Stuck in the middle of the opponent's siege, Xuan Truong became very harmless. It seems that having only had too little rest after a fierce time of plowing at the AFF Cup, has caused his ball sense, position sense and inspiration to be worn down quite a bit.

Midfielder Xuan Truong had an unsatisfactory match. Photo: Internet.

The question is, what makes Xuan Truong, Cong Phuong... play poorly against their "equal" colleagues of U21 Thailand? That is, they are under great pressure from the expectations of the audience and the unwise decision of the Board of Directors of HAGL Club.

During the past 2 years, in front of the admiration of the domestic audience, the leaders of the "mountain town" football team have "closed their eyes" to bring their talents to compete. In the name of "competition", "serving the fans", but mostly to please the sponsors. Therefore, from 2015 until now, regardless of the match, big or small tournament, Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong... have been working hard on the field like machines, or more precisely like puppets in an adult's problem.

The audience has high expectations, sponsors are impatient, the football federation is looking forward... however, the harsh truth is that the first generation of HAGL players are being turned into puppets in the mess of Vietnamese football.

Before the decision to use Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Van Thanh, Van Toan to participate in the Thanh Nien Newspaper International U21 Tournament, Coach Le Thuy Hai frankly spoke out: "Young players should be allowed to play a lot. However, when they return to the U21 International playground, they will be at a disadvantage and will not have a good effect on their future. In order for them to improve themselves, they must be very serious, not just playing to prove that they are better than others, playing only to achieve other goals will not solve any problems...". Mr. Hai "lo"'s statement is worth noting./.

Thanh Hung