Nguyen Manh repents and affirms 'no cold-blooded attack'

(Baonghean.vn) - The number 1 goalkeeper of the Vietnam National Team returned to his hometown of Do Luong after a forgettable match at My Dinh Stadium on the evening of December 7. Having to leave the field due to a red card in the 75th minute that put his teammates at a disadvantage, Nguyen Manh spoke up about his moment of lack of restraint.

In the 75th minute of the second leg semi-final match against Indonesia, in a situation where he jumped up to compete with defender Bayu Pradana from a corner kick, the SLNA goalkeeper was elbowed in the face by the opponent and responded by kicking his foot into the opponent's back. Nguyen Manh's lack of composure, although it happened very quickly and did not have a strong impact, caused the Indonesian player to hold his back in pain. However, after a minute of consultation with the assistant, the main referee Fu Ming directly showed a red card and expelled the number 1 goalkeeper of the Vietnam national team.

Goalkeeper Nguyen Manh needs to stand up after his unfortunate mistake.

Disappointed when he received a red card, putting his teammates in a difficult position when they needed to beat Indonesia to get a ticket to the next round, after leaving the field, Nguyen Manh did not dare to sit in the stands to continue watching the match but went straight to the locker room to sit and think alone.

After what he had experienced, Nguyen Manh regretfully shared: "I am really disappointed and regretful with my actions that led to the red card and I want to apologize to everyone. Actually, I only lightly kicked the Indonesian player to push him away from me because he was lying on top of me after we had a dispute in the air and then fell down, I did not intend to hit him in any way. But the linesman thought that I had hit my opponent in a dirty way, so he told the main referee to give me a red card.

No one in the team blamed me for my mistakes or talked about the goals I lost. Everyone just cried because they couldn't do what everyone expected, which was to reach the final. But the red card made my sadness of failure even heavier."

The match has been over for 2 days, but Nguyen Manh is still tormenting himself. Phuong Chi, the wife of the goalkeeper from Nghe An, recounted: “That night, when I called him, he couldn’t tell me anything, he just cried… I felt so sorry for him. We have known each other and loved each other for nearly 8 years now, and I know that with his personality, he has never hit anyone or done anything bad on the field. At this time, I can only be there to encourage him, and only the moments of being close to my daughter can make him happy again.”

Nguyen Manh finds comfort in his little daughter.

Coach Truong Quang Vinh - the person who discovered and guided goalkeeper Nguyen Manh in his first steps also sent words of encouragement to his former student: “That's all I know about sports. Glory and tears always go hand in hand, we always have to strive. As for me, I always teach my students not to be arrogant when they win and not to be discouraged when they lose. Mistakes must be corrected. How can one be a perfect person? As long as you always strive. I and those who truly love Vietnamese football always support...”.

Trung Kien