Thai press comments and strange coincidences

Despite only playing 21 matches for champion Hanoi, Van Hau still won the award for Best Young Player of V-League 2019. Vietnam National Team defender Doan Van Hau is in the top 3 players nominated by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the "Best Young Player" award.

Thai people are astute

Accordingly, Van Hau must compete with Hiroki Abe (Japan) and Lee Kang-in (Korea) for the AFC award. Abe, 20 years old, grew up from the Kashima Antlers Club and is playing for Barca B. Lee, 18 years old, came from the Valencia youth team and is a member of the first team of the Mestalla Stadium club. According to AFC regulations, the "Best Young Player" award is given to talents who demonstrate their level in AFC or FIFA tournaments. Van Hau is the only representative of Vietnam to be on the list of nominees to be awarded in Hong Kong on December 2.

Van Hau is among the Top 3 players nominated by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the "Best Young Player" Award. Photo: Trung Kien

In the match at My Dinh Stadium, defender Van Hau had the opportunity to face midfielder E. Punya, the player voted the best in the recent match against UAE. E. Punya is a left midfielder, small in stature but has a very annoying way of dribbling, often confidently breaking into the opponent's midfield.

With the presence of Van Hau, the left wing of the Vietnam National Team became more solid. Not only that, Van Hau is also a fast counter-attacker, in a game where the opponent is always suffocatingly pressed. Bunmathan played quite sharply on the right wing, so Trong Hoang did not participate in the attack as much as in the previous match.

This is the match where the three attacking midfielders S. Sarachart (7), C. Songkrasin (18), E. Punya (8) are often allowed by Mr. A.Nishino to swap positions. All three are left-footed, both participating in creating, harassing and ready to swing powerful shots like a hammer. In the first leg, striker S. Sarachart had made life difficult for Tien Dung and goalkeeper Van Lam, almost scoring a goal at the end of the match.

3 memorable plays

In the 28th minute, Van Hau had an impact on the center back Manuel Bihr, the push was not strong but still made the naturalized Thai player fall to the ground. Of course, Vietnam was penalized 11m and Bunmathan was the one to take the penalty for Thailand. However, goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, when flying, still used his foot to successfully block the opponent's shot.

Goalkeeper Van Lam had to show his talent to save the goal many times. Photo courtesy of Trung Kien

Three minutes later, the home team Vietnam scored a goal from a corner kick on the right wing. This time, defender Bui Tien Dung jumped high to finish. Unfortunately, the referee from Omar did not recognize this situation because before that, Doan Van Hau had fouled goalkeeper Kawin in the 5m50 area. But for many referees and experts, this was a valid goal, Van Hau did not foul the Thai goalkeeper.

When 10 minutes earlier, Mr. Park had brought Cong Phuong in to replace Hung Dung, the Vietnamese midfield was continuously exploited by the opponent. Obviously, in a weak afternoon, Tuan Anh was blocked by Phitiwat and Yooyen, Quang Hai retreated to play as a central midfielder and was not strong enough to keep up with the opponent.

In the final minutes of the match, the Thai players continuously besieged Van Lam's goal with both long shots and crosses, one-touch passes in the 16.5m area. In a delicate combination in the penalty area, Vietnam and the Thai players had a chance to finish.

The first kick was blocked by the flying goalkeeper Dang Van Lam. When the ball bounced back, the Thai player rushed in to kick the rebound. Not having the best standing position, lying on the ground, Doan Van Hau bravely used his head and chest to block the hammer-like shot from the opponent player Narubadin's foot. This was an extremely dangerous situation, if the right-back Narubadin's shoe was too high, Van Hau could have suffered a serious injury.

Van Hau's courage

This is a move that shows the bravery of the SC Heerenveen defender, highly appreciated by regional sports reporters. It will certainly be a significant plus point in the eyes of Coach Park Hang-seo and the SC Heerenveen coaching staff, winning the hearts of the fans.

At the age of 20, full of energy, training in a good environment at SC Heerenveen Club, this team's defender will certainly go further. In front of him is the 30th SEA Games, where Van Hau will meet again S. Sarachart (7), E. Punya (8).