Ho Khac Ngoc is on the national team?

(Baonghean.vn) - In the 7th round of V. League, SLNA had a spectacular comeback against SHB Da Nang. One of the faces that left the most impression in this match was midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc.

In the 82nd minute, receiving the ball from a teammate outside the 16m50 area, leaning to the right in the direction of the home team's attack, Ho Khac Ngoc fired a cannon shot into the top corner of goalkeeper Thanh Binh's goal. The masterpiece of "Fabregas of Nghe An" exploded the Vinh stadium, bringing home all 3 extremely important points for SLNA.

Witnessing the wonderful goal of his former student, Coach Nguyen Huu Thang could not hide his excitement. After the match, the captain of the Vietnam national team went directly to the field to congratulate the Nghe An team and especially to give words of praise to Ho Khac Ngoc.

Ho Khac Ngoc had a quick, tricky kick that defeated goalkeeper Thanh Binh. Photo: Duc Anh

This season, after 7 matches of SLNA in V. League, Ho Khac Ngoc was arranged to play in the starting lineup in all 7 matches. That shows that the coaching board of the Nghe An team has great faith in the midfielder born in 1992. Not disappointing his teachers, Ho Khac Ngoc played quite energetically and effectively, helping the home team have a better position against opponents with highly rated midfields such as Than Quang Ninh, SHB Da Nang, S. Khanh Hoa...

The goal against SHB Da Nang was the second consecutive goal of Ngoc "de" for SLNA in V. League 2017. In SLNA's 1-2 loss at Cam Pha Stadium against Than Quang Ninh, Ho Khac Ngoc had a quick, tricky kick that defeated goalkeeper Tuan Linh of the team from the mining land.

Observing the Nghe An team play this season, one can see a big change in their playing style. There are no longer the simple, familiar moves of running as hard as if hitting a wall, then passing the ball, dribbling the ball for the foreign players to handle.

Now, the duo Nguyen Duc Thang - Nguyen Van Thinh has made SLNA play more smoothly through small passes between positions and between lines. In the intention of the coaching board as well as the actual operation on the field of the Nghe An team, Ho Khac Ngoc is like a bridge, a transit station between the lines.

Positioned as a central midfielder in a 4-4-1-1 formation, the 25-year-old player takes on the role of the team's conductor. The ball often finds its way to Ho Khac Ngoc before reaching other positions on the field.

The speed of the ball circulation depends on how Ho Khac Ngoc handles it with his feet and head. Simply put, the midfielder wearing the number 12 shirt is like a conductor in an orchestra, or a valve in a dam. Therefore, the importance of Ho Khac Ngoc in SLNA in recent years is very great.

In the context of midfielder Nguyen Tuan Anh not recovering from injury. The question is: Who will be the partner of Luong Xuan Truong in the center of the midfield of the Vietnam national team? In the past few months, coach Nguyen Huu Thang, in addition to praying for the player of HAGL Club to quickly return to the field, has also continuously "burned the torch" all over the country's football fields to find a suitable face that can play alongside Luong Xuan Truong.

Coach Nguyen Huu Thang gave many compliments to Ho Khac Ngoc's performance. Photo archive.

As revealed by the strategist from Nghe An, the Vietnamese national team was not successful in the AFF Cup 2016 partly due to the absence of Tuan Anh. The "fire-fighting" options such as Nguyen Trong Hoang and Le Van Thang did not bring the expected results. As the final qualifying round of the 2019 Asian Cup is approaching, to operate smoothly and effectively the favorite 4-1-4-1 formation, coach Nguyen Huu Thang must find a player with a similar playing style to Nguyen Tuan Anh. Objectively speaking, in current Vietnamese football, there are few people more suitable than midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc.

This player has both excellent individual skills, excellent tactical vision (a necessary condition for a central midfielder) and a lot of battle experience. With his current form and proven qualities over a long period of time, Ho Khac Ngoc deserves to be tested at the national team level.

Sitting in the stands of Vinh Stadium, Coach Nguyen Huu Thang must have felt happy, as if a burden had been lifted when witnessing the convincing performance of Ho Khac Ngoc. The problem of who will play alongside Xuan Truong has been satisfactorily solved.

On March 28, the Vietnam national football team will play away against Afghanistan to kick off the campaign to win a ticket to the 2019 Asian Cup finals. Will Ho Khac Ngoc have the honor of wearing the Vietnam national football team shirt? Only coach Nguyen Huu Thang can answer this question.

Thanh Hung