Asian Cup 2019: Tien Linh - worthy successor to veteran Anh Duc

After scoring against North Korea, Tien Linh walked slowly, his face showing almost no emotion. Throughout the four stands, the atmosphere seemed to explode, but for Tien Linh, perhaps he thought it had to come and then accepted it with a moderate emotion. That is the usual image of a dignified striker who has been on the national team for many years, not a young man in his twenties who has just started playing for the national team like Tien Linh.

Tien Linh's goal against North Korea made the four stands explode.

In Tien Linh's playing style, people see in him a maturity beyond his age. Few people know that the 2018 domestic top scorer is only in his twenties. Tien Linh is the youngest player of the Vietnam national team at the present time.

Anyone who follows V.League regularly will not be surprised that a young player like Tien Linh was included in the plan to conquer the Southeast Asian arena by coach Park Hang-seo. He was the domestic top scorer in the 2018 season with 15 goals for his home team Binh Duong. That is truly an unprecedented step of maturity for a player who is only 19 years old.

Tien Linh only scored 1 goal in the AFF Cup 2018, which was a header against Cambodia in the group stage. However, Linh's performance in the recent tournament made fans and the media feel satisfied, even though the young striker's time on the field was not much. It is understandable, because at that time, the experience of veteran Anh Duc was the factor that Mr. Park Hang-seo felt was more necessary.

However, with Anh Duc no longer in the plans of the Vietnamese national team at the Asian Cup, many people have turned to Tien Linh. He is likely to be a worthy successor to his senior at Binh Duong Club.

Tien Linh has all the qualities to become a good striker like Anh Duc.

Tien Linh has all the qualities to become a good striker like Anh Duc. He is tall, has the ability to run, and has an impeccable sense of goal. The number of goals he scored in V.League 2018 and the goal he scored in the match against North Korea is the answer to that statement.

In addition, Linh's ability to score goals with his head is now number 2, no one dares to accept number 1. His jumping header into the Cambodian net is a typical example of his aerial ability.

Although his physique is quite bulky, Tien Linh is ready to handle the ball skillfully. In face-to-face situations or when maneuvering in a narrow area, Tien Linh's legs are still really soft and not slow like other tall strikers.

"Getting the ball from Tien Linh's feet is not easy, even though looking at his tall stature, defenders often think he is clumsy. After nearly 3 years of watching Linh play, I rate him as the number 1 striker in Vietnamese football in the future" - Coach Tran Minh Chien of B.Binh Duong once commented on Tien Linh.

Not using Anh Duc anymore is Coach Park's intention to use Tien Linh in the Asian Cup?

Currently, the Vietnam national team has two best strikers who play as center forwards, probably Duc Chinh and Tien Linh. While the player from Da Nang has not shown much, Tien Linh has scored regularly every time he plays as a starter.

Obviously, not using Anh Duc anymore is Park Hang-seo's intention to use Tien Linh in the upcoming Asian Cup. Using Binh Duong's player will be an arrow that hits two targets. It is not difficult for Tien Linh to fill Anh Duc's position and this will be the perfect stepping stone for the Binh Dinh player to aim for two youth tournaments next year: AFF U22 Cup and SEA Games 2020.

Dear Bao