Nguyen Trong Hoang: Antonio Valencia of Vietnam National Team

Recently, experts and football fans in the country are curious to see which player will take the right-back position of the Vietnam National Team at the AFF Cup 2018 in the context that Vu Van Thanh will definitely not participate in the AFF Cup 2018 due to a knee ligament injury he suffered in the V-League.

With what is happening in the Vietnam National Team, it is almost certain that Nguyen Trong Hoang will be chosen by Coach Park Hang Seo. This decision (if any) will not surprise many people.

Although Nguyen Trong Hoang’s forte is right winger or central midfielder, it does not mean that the player born in 1989 cannot excel in his new position - right wing-back. From experience to physical foundation, Nguyen Trong Hoang is somewhat better than Pham Van Thanh, Dinh Viet Tu…

Nguyen Trong Hoang (number 8) is a strong candidate for the right-back position of the Vietnam National Team. Photo: Internet

At the age of 29, Nguyen Trong Hoang is one of the most experienced players of the Vietnam national team today. The player from Nghe An has played for teams such as SLNA, B.Binh Duong and now FLC Thanh Hoa.

Not only that, Nguyen Trong Hoang's "seniority to play for the national team" is also very impressive, as he has worn the U20 Vietnam, U23 Vietnam and Vietnam national teams' jerseys to participate in many tournaments at the regional and continental levels.

Besides the experience factor is the physical foundation. Just looking at the nickname Hoang "cow" is enough to understand how the player currently on the payroll of FLC Thanh Hoa possesses such a strong physical foundation.

In V.League 2018, Nguyen Trong Hoang played a total of 1,832 minutes and scored 4 goals for the Thanh team. It is not without reason that coach Nguyen Duc Thang considers him one of the irreplaceable players at FLC Thanh Hoa.

Previously, Antonio Valencia played in his preferred position as a right winger. Photo: Internet

Another detail that cannot be ignored is the similarity between the right-back position and the right-winger position. No need to analyze in depth, just look at the case of Antonio Valencia at Man Utd.

When he first moved to Old Trafford, the Ecuadorian played as a right winger for Man Utd. Later, former coach Alex Ferguson moved Antonio Valencia back to the back line and he has always performed his duties excellently, up to this point.

Nguyen Trong Hoang’s playing style is similar to Antonio Valencia’s. Therefore, the possibility of Hoang “cow” completing his role as right-back of the Vietnam national team is quite high. That is probably what coach Park Hang Seo, experts and football fans in the country are thinking./.