Coach Park Hang-seo calls up 5 selected U.21 players to join the Vietnam national team

Ngo Tung Quoc (left) was unexpectedly called up to the Vietnam national team thanks to his impressive performance in Hue.

After winning the AFF Cup, the Vietnamese football team almost immediately had to start preparing for the 2019 Asian Cup finals in the UAE from January 5 to February 2, 2019.

With 23 players currently in hand, Coach Park Hang-seo decided to call up 6 more players, prioritizing young players to reinforce the missing positions. At the same time, he also aims to prepare long-term for the qualifying round of the U.23 Asian Cup and the 2019 SEA Games.

To call up the young players, Mr. Park decided to rely on his right-hand man. That is VFF Technical Director Juergen Gede, who was present in Hue to witness the impressive performance of the Vietnam U21 team at the 2018 Thanh Nien Newspaper International U.21 Tournament.

The reason Mr. Park has so much confidence in this colleague is because Mr. Gede himself suggested Phan Van Duc from the Thanh Nien Newspaper International U.21 Tournament in Can Tho last year. Immediately after being called up, the midfielder from Song Lam Nghe An immediately shone at the final round of the U.23 Asian Championship in Changzhou (China) and became a prominent name in the Vietnamese national team.

According to Mr. Gede's proposal and after discussing with VFF, Coach Park Hang-seo decided that 6 new players will join the Vietnam national team from December 20, right after the international U.21 tournament.

Among them, there are 5 players playing at the international U.21 playground in Hue: striker Dinh Thanh Binh, midfielder Phan Thanh Hau, defenders Nguyen Thanh Chung, Huynh Tan Sinh and Ngo Tung Quoc, and 1 U.23 player attending ASIAD, midfielder Tran Minh Vuong.

Besides Minh Vuong, who has long been confirmed but has had little chance to "eat rice" for the national team, this time will be an opportunity for him to confirm, the remaining U.21 names are all worthy. Among them, Thanh Chung and Tan Sinh were called up by coach Park before the ASIAD and were in the match against Oman at the international quadrennial tournament at the end of July.

This pair of central defenders is a backup for Coach Park's current 4 central defenders: Que Ngoc Hai, Tran Dinh Trong, Do Duy Manh and Bui Tien Dung. But looking further ahead, it is to prepare for the U.23 Asian qualifiers and SEA Games 2019 when of the above 4, only Duy Manh and Dinh Trong are old enough to stay.

Dinh Thanh Binh is also a necessary addition in the context that although the Vietnamese team has 5 strikers, in addition to Anh Duc, Van Duc, Cong Phuong, the 2 young strikers Tien Linh and Duc Chinh also need competition to progress. Moreover, coach Park also looks at the long term for the U.23 Asia and SEA Games when Van Duc and Cong Phuong are too old.

Therefore, the presence of striker Hoang Anh Gia Lai who is playing extremely well in the international U.21 tournament, leading the top scorer tournament with 4 goals after 3 matches, along with Duc Chinh and Tien Linh, both 22 years old in 2019, will be a trio of tall strikers, with all the qualities of a key player for U.23 Vietnam in the future.

Meanwhile, Phan Thanh Hau joining the national team is also an opportunity for this technical midfielder to mature. Compared to last year, Hau has grown taller and has a thicker body, not as fragile as before. Moreover, having a versatile and creative midfielder like Thanh Hau will help him increase his strength in playing, be a backup for Quang Hai and also aim for a long-term shuttle position in the U.23 Vietnam.

Thanh Hau's ability to seize opportunities is very good. For example, the opening goal he scored against Gimhae CFC of Korea was extremely sharp, showing his sensitivity to opportunities as well as smart positioning. In addition, Hau's ball control style is very sophisticated, always with high variability. Thanh Hau's progress will hopefully help him not only find a place in the national team but also, in the future, together with Quang Hai, lead the play of U.23 Vietnam.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was defender Ngo Tung Quoc, who grew up from the PVF training center, is playing for Can Tho and is a reinforcement for Becamex Binh Duong in the final round of the National U.21 Championship and is playing impressively in the International U.21 Championship with his comprehensive offensive and defensive abilities. The goal he scored when he quickly rushed forward to occupy space against U.21 Malaysia 1 day before the second leg of the AFF Cup final left a very beautiful impression.

Mr. Park called Ngo Tung Quoc to test this defender because the right wing of the Vietnamese team is still very thin with only Trong Hoang as Vu Van Thanh has not recovered yet. Of course, Tung Quoc's aggressive playing style is an advantage, but this defender needs to work hard to improve himself to stay and in the long term for the U.23 as well as the SEA Games in the Philippines.