Philippines has only 19 players left to play Vietnam, can Van Toan play in the second leg of the semi-finals?

According to information from Fox Sports, Daisuke Sato - a defender of Japanese origin, had to return to Romania following the summoning decision of the Sepsi OSK club, which means he will be absent from both matches against Vietnam in the semi-finals.
"I am very sad to announce that I will no longer have the opportunity to compete in the AFF Cup 2018. I have to return to Romania. During my time with the Philippines team, I was very happy and learned a lot from my teammates," Sato shared on his personal page.

The Philippines lost a series of key players. Photo: Internet

Not only Sato, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will also be without midfielder John-Patrick Strauss. According to the latest announcement, midfielder John-Patrick Strauss has had to return to Germany to play for the second division team FC Erzgebirge Aue.

Previously, goalkeeper Neil Etheridge also had to return to England to play for Cardiff City in the Premier League, while Luke Woodland was out for the rest of the tournament due to injury.

So, up to this point, the Philippines team has only 19 players left to prepare for the match against the Vietnam team, in which the possibility of captain Phil Younghusband playing is still uncertain. Phil Younghusband suffered a head injury in the match against Indonesia in the final round of Group B of the AFF Cup 2018.

Regarding Nguyen Van Toan's injury on the Vietnamese national team, Dr. Nguyen Trong Hien, Head of Sports Medicine Department of the National Sports Training Center, shared that Van Toan's injury has not yet had a final conclusion.

Doctor Hien said: "It can be confirmed that Van Toan has a hamstring injury and a torn tibial ligament attachment point in the knee, but it is still unclear whether he has a ruptured meniscus or not. We will have to wait 3-4 more days for the final examination results."

When asked about the possibility of Van Toan participating in the second leg of the semi-final with the Vietnamese team, the doctor of the Nhon center said: "This is not certain, we still have to wait to know exactly how serious Van Toan's injury is." Thus, if he does not have a broken meniscus, it is possible that Van Toan still has the opportunity to play in the second leg of the semi-final at home at My Dinh Stadium.

Striker Nguyen Van Toan's injury severity is still unknown. Photo: DD

Doctor Hien added: "In the most severe case of a meniscus tear, surgery will be required, but it will take about 2 months for Van Toan to be able to practice again. This injury does not cause too serious an impact." After receiving information about Van Toan's injury, HAGL leaders reported to Chairman Doan Nguyen Duc and expressed their desire to send this player to Korea for early treatment.

Head coach Park Hang-seo has yet to decide whether to let Van Toan return to the club or not. If the 1996-born striker’s injury is not too serious, he will still have enough time to recover and continue to accompany the team to the final match./.

Video Myanmar National Team 0-0 Vietnam National Team: Referee "robs" Van Toan's goal

(Baonghean.vn) - In the 76th minute, Quang Hai took a shot from outside the penalty area with quite a lot of force, goalkeeper Zin Htet had to push the ball away and just a few minutes after entering the field, Van Toan was there to tap the ball into the Myanmar net from close range. However, the second assistant referee raised the flag for offside and the Qatari referee blew the whistle to deny the goal.