Que Ngoc Hai's bleeding knees and the Thai people's helplessness

Not long ago at the King's Cup 2019, the Vietnam national team defeated Thailand 1-0 right on Thai soil. It was like a knife cut into the hearts of the Thai people who only considered themselves the true kings of Southeast Asian football.

Remember in the final match of the tournament named after the King of Thailand, Thai fans still came to the stadium to watch but to cheer for the Curacao team. A small amount of anger came from the fans of this country when they shouted when Que Ngoc Hai and his teammates were taking penalty kicks.

Que Ngoc Hai and his message to Thai fans at King's Cup 2019. Photo: FBNV

And then, after Que Ngoc Hai's next action, he once again impressed many people. He put his name on his lips with the message "be quiet". Thailand is already a loser, stop making noise.

Que Ngoc Hai is a player with personality, leadership qualities, and good skills. He is also a player that Thai people do not like, but certainly Thai players must have respect and caution for him.

Thai football after Kiatisuk has had a long decline. Thailand suffered a disastrous defeat in the third qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup, lost the AFF Cup title, lost to India in the Asian Cup, and suffered consecutive defeats against Vietnam from the U19, U23 to national team levels.

The Thai national team's head coach has changed hands three times since 2017. Thailand has hired a series of famous European coaches with ambitions to reach new heights but all failed. Now, they have to accept being behind Vietnam and learn from Vietnamese football, which is to hire a coach in the Asian region, who is more suitable and knowledgeable about Southeast Asian football.

Que Ngoc Hai protects his teammate when he is fouled by the opponent. Photo: Trung Kien

While Thailand is changing its approach with the hope of finding a new "Park Hang-seo" of Thailand, Vietnam has entered the third year of the Park Hang-seo reign, while still maintaining high stability at both the U23 and national team levels.

When the 2018 AFF Cup championship belonged to the Vietnamese team, Thai fans still could not believe that they had lost their position as a "big guy". That unintentionally put pressure on the new coach of the Thai team, Akira Nishino, causing the Japanese coach to declare that it would only take 10 days to defeat Vietnam.

In the match at Thammasat, Thailand had the strongest squad, but we were missing many positions in the defense and many cases had just returned after injury. At that time, the role of Que Ngoc Hai became even heavier.

The first task is to lock down Chanathip on the Thai side, coordinate with the two remaining central defenders to support Hong Duy, who is not excellent in defense, and Trong Hoang, who has just returned from injury and has not yet reached his inherent full potential.

Close-up of the situation where Que Ngoc Hai was tackled roughly. Photo: Anh Nguyen

Thailand played the highest with 2 midfielders playing the role of strikers, Supachok and Titiphan. Supporting this duo was Chanathip - a midfielder who has just shone in the J-League, and is also the top threat to any Southeast Asian team.

Yet, not only did Que Ngoc Hai help keep Van Lam's net clean, he also frequently made accurate long passes for Van Toan to approach and threaten the Thai goal. The situations of diving, tackling, aerial combat and commanding the defense clearly made the Thai players "hot-blooded".

In the 51st minute, Thitipan deliberately kicked Que Ngoc Hai in the knee, the central defender from Nghe An was in pain and needed medical attention. Luckily, the captain of the Vietnam national team was still able to complete the entire match.

That is an image that is too strange for Que Ngoc Hai that we often see. In the eyes of Vietnamese fans, Que Ngoc Hai is known as a defender with an overly tough playing style, even many "untifans" gave the former SLNA center back the nickname "the butcher".

But against the Thais, Que Ngoc Hai showed his coolness and efficiency, far different from the impulsive Que Ngoc Hai 4 years ago. The bravery and battle experience of the leader of the Vietnamese national team is a support for his teammates in the nerve-wracking matches.

Que Ngoc Hai is trusted by coach Park to be the leader of the national team. Photo: Trung Kien

The Thais were eager to win to salvage their long-lost honor, but Coach Park did not want them to have that. The Vietnamese team played defensively, cautiously and pragmatically, true to the Korean coach's style. And clearly, although the Vietnamese team faced many threats, they played with the mentality of the upper hand.

"That situation happened very quickly. I didn't think Thitiphan would kick so badly. If his shoe was a little lower, I don't know what bad things would have happened to my foot. This match was really tense. The other team played quite tough. A 0-0 draw is also not a bad result. Getting 1 point in the first away match is good."

Center back Que Ngoc Hai

After that match, Coach Park and Que Ngoc Hai had a conversation, the Nghe An midfielder, as captain, promised his coach that he and his teammates would defeat Thailand in the return match. Not only in terms of expertise, Coach Park had his own reasons to trust and entrust the captaincy to him.

Looking at the way Que Ngoc Hai has performed for the national team at the AFF Cup, Asian Cup, King's Cup and most recently the match against Thailand in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, many fans must have felt happy for Ngoc Hai's maturity and also forgiven the youthful mistakes of the defender from Nghe An.

Que Ngoc Hai answered confidently at the press conference, determined to fight Thailand

(Baonghean.vn) - True to the character of the captain of the Vietnam National Team, central defender Que Ngoc Hai confidently answered a large number of Asian reporters before the big match against Thailand in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.