Coach Park Hang-seo and the 'soft' list of players for the national team

With U23 Vietnam, basically, this list meets expectations because it gathers talents who were present in the qualifying campaign, won tickets to the U23 Asian Finals and some outstanding factors who just won the U23 Southeast Asia Championship 2022. Although not directly in charge of the important friendly tournament in Dubai, this is the team that Mr. Park Hang-seo will take over later to serve the campaign to defend the SEA Games gold medal, after he and his students inVietnam National Teamlost the AFF Cup 2021 championship.

For the Vietnamese national team, the remaining 2 matches against the Oman and Japanese national teams do not set any lofty goals, other than continuing to renew and supplement their forces, avoiding being predicted by their opponents to aim for the goal of regaining the AFF Cup 2022 championship from rival Thailand. In the list of players called up this time, Mr. Park included completely new players such as Tuyen Quang, Van Vi and Adriano Schmidt, and recalled Hai Huy, Tuan Manh, and Tuan Anh. What the public is interested in and... concerned about is that Mr. Park continues to "ignore" Huu Tuan and Xuan Manh but continues to call up old players from HAGL such as Van Toan, Xuan Truong, Hong Duy, Van Thanh, Cong Phuong...

List of U23 players. Photo: Internet

Obviously, with the Vietnamese national team playing brilliantly against the Chinese national team on the first day of the Lunar New Year (February 1), when in the "renewed, remade" lineup of Mr. Park Hang-seo, only Hong Duy was in the starting lineup, Cong Phuong entered the field when the match was already 3-0, then surely everyone knows what elements the truly new and quality lineup will include at this time? Moreover, in the first 3 matches of the 2022 V. League season, the "worn-out" stars mentioned above did not score a single goal, continuing the streak of "losing motivation, bored with football" but Mr. Park still believed in and still summoned them, which is what makes many people wonder and worry?

Meanwhile, those who always maintain their form, fighting spirit, and play effectively, such as Xuan Manh, for example, are abandoned or called up late? In the last 3 matches, Xuan Manh was assigned to play on the left wing, but he has successively "neutralized" the national team players on the opposing side such as Van Vu, Tan Tai and Van Thanh, even scoring a goal when he pressed down the Korean defender Kim Dong Su of HAGL. Or goalkeeper Tuyen Quang, who let Ngoc Hai score from a free kick in the SLNA-T.BĐ match at Vinh Stadium, will also make the public question the expertise of this 27-year-old player who was called up for the first time?

Of course, Mr. Park Hang-seo always has his own reasons and that is something that must be accepted in reality. The fact that excellent Vietnamese football players such as Van Quyet, Huu Tuan, Cao Van Trien, Khac Ngoc, Xuan Manh... have not been called up or trusted for a long time is more regrettable than blameworthy. This is not a new story in the football world. It is not rare for a player to play very well at the club but never be called up to the national team under this coach but can be called up and perform well when another coach is in charge. Not to mention the Vietnamese national team under Mr. Park Hang-seo or a new coach, but everything can happen over time and the main thing to remember is that every talented player always has the opportunity to contribute if they work hard and never give up.

Pham Xuan Manh's name is not on the list. Photo courtesy

For various reasons, the list of teams called up is always in "open" mode, meaning that there will be continuous additions and removals until the time to register the list before each tournament. In the current epidemic situation, there is even the matter of adding players when the tournament is already underway, such as in the recent U23 Southeast Asia 2022, so everything cannot be "finished" at this time. Everyone understands that in U23 Vietnam as well as the Vietnam National Team, there is always a "hard list" of Mr. Park Hang-seo, meaning that even if injured, they will be called up for treatment, and when they recover from injury, they will be on the field, as in the case of Trong Hoang or Dinh Trong before. In addition, there is a "soft" list that is always planned to be monitored regularly to supplement the force when necessary. That is, no one is completely out of chances or the door to the national team has been closed, if they always nurture the determination and turn everything into results on the field?

It is also to affirm that young SLNA players such as Van Viet, Sy Hoang, Manh Quynh, Van Bach, Van Cuong... or seniors Xuan Manh, Van Hoang are always on the "soft list" of the teams. Let's follow the example of those who are often chosen like Ngoc Hai, Van Duc and the story of Van Duc-Xuan Manh being called up and immediately taking the main position in Thuong Chau 2018 or the talent that does not wait for Xuan Tien's age to be the motivation to strive and mature, first of all from each training session, each match of SLNA today, tomorrow...