SLNA's brightest face says goodbye to U23 Southeast Asia tournament

Midfielder Dinh Xuan Tien is 1/6 playerU23 Vietnamsaid goodbye early to the 2022 Southeast Asian U23 tournament taking place in Cambodia due to testing positive for Covid-19. Besides Xuan Tien, Vo Minh Trong, Vu Tien Long, Ho Anh Thong, Nguyen Ngoc Thang and Nguyen Van Son also sadly said goodbye to the tournament.

Xuan Tien (number 10) said goodbye to the U23 Southeast Asian tournament due to testing positive for Covid-19.

Notably, Xuan Tien and Tien Long were the players who scored in the 7-0 victory over Singapore. The fact that both of these important players tested positive for Covid-19 put coach Dinh The Nam in a difficult position. He was forced to call up 6 additional players from Vietnam.

The fact that Xuan Tien had to say goodbye early to the 2022 Southeast Asian U23 tournament taking place in Cambodia due to testing positive for Covid-19 is clearly a great regret for fans, especially Nghe An football fans. Xuan Tien is SLNA's most anticipated face in the Vietnam U23 team alongside Le Thanh Lam, Tran Manh Quynh, Ho Van Cuong, and Phan Ba ​​Quyen.

In the opening match against Singapore, Dinh Xuan Tien contributed 1 goal and 1 assist. Specifically, the player born in 2003 scored to raise the score to 2-0 for U23 Vietnam. The goal showed Xuan Tien's technique, confidence and accurate finishing ability. It was a beautiful goal that was highly appreciated by experts.

In the fourth goal of U23 Vietnam, Xuan Tien had a favorable assist for U23 Vietnam captain - Dung Quang Nho to easily score at a fairly close distance to the opponent's goal. The young player of SLNA had a situation where he quickly approached the opponent, causing the opponent to panic and lose the ball right in the penalty area. If he had been luckier, Xuan Tien would have scored a double in this match with a lob from outside the penalty area to defeat goalkeeper Fikri, but unfortunately the ball hit the crossbar.

In the opening match, the U23 Vietnam midfield played cohesively and explosively with the combination of the trio Quang Nho - Thanh Khoi - Xuan Tien, in which young player Xuan Tien of SLNA left a clear mark, receiving praise from many fans and experts.

Playing for U23 Vietnam is an opportunity for Dinh Xuan Tien to show off his ability. With his smart and skillful playing style, the midfielder from Nghe An has won the trust of coach Dinh The Nam and of course Tien did not miss this opportunity. However, it is a pity that Covid-19 has ruined the plan of the player born in 2003.

Xuan Tien is SLNA's most anticipated young talent. Photo: FBNV

Losing Xuan Tien, coach Dinh The Nam had to call up Nguyen Ngoc Thang and Vu Dinh Hai to replace him. These were all temporary solutions because both players were new faces and had very little experience playing at the youth team level.

However, Xuan Tien's contributions in the 7-0 victory over U23 Singapore will certainly be recognized and will be the premise to help this player have more opportunities in the future. Who knows, the young talent of SLNA may have caught the eye of coach Park Hang-seo and be given a chance at the 31st SEA Games at home taking place next May.

SEA Games 31 is also the last official tournament that Coach Park Hang Seo leads the "youth team". Emerging faces like Xuan Tien will most likely be given a chance by the Korean strategist, creating a big surprise for opponents.

The "genuine" U23 team led by coach Park Hang-seo himself will attend a friendly tournament in the UAE next March for training. The opponents of U23 Vietnam at that time will be China, Thailand, Croatia,... The quality of this training trip is certainly much better than the tournament that coach Dinh The Nam and his team are participating in.