Veteran Trong Hoang and the dream of SLNA audiences

This was the 54th match of the midfielder from Nghe An in the national team and Trong Hoang did not disappoint the fans with his SLNA-style play. Coach Park assigned Trong Hoang a very specific task, which was to manage the defense on the right wing and support Quang Hai in the attack.

Interestingly, Mr. Graham Arnold made 2 changes to the lineup compared to the match against China, with left-back B. Smith (3) on the opposite wing to Trong Hoang. It seems that Mr. Graham Arnold has a significant respect for Quang Hai andTrong Hoang- those who are playing on the right flank of the Vietnam team in the 5-4-1 formation. In fact, coach Graham Arnold's preparation for the match was quite good, this was a match where Quang Hai was closely marked and could not show much.

This is a match where, observing the "heat map", Trong Hoang did not climb the sidelines much, he mainly moved to the midfield area, and he also often moved into the middle to support central defender Thanh Chung. Simply put, on the left wing of Australia, the 25-year-old black midfielder A.Mabil (11) currently playing in Denmark is a fast, physical, strong and pressing player. The confrontations between Trong Hoang and A.Mabil are always close, but with the experience and class of a player who has played for many years for the national team, the veteran from Nghe An is often the winner.

Trong Hoang threw himself into the match against Australia. Photo: Hai Hoang

Still playing with a fierce, aggressive style, Trong Hoang blocked 22/31 opponent attacks. In many situations, Trong Hoang played as a center back. Although only 1.69m tall, he chose the right position so he blocked many high balls.

In addition, when conditions permit, this veteran still boldly holds the ball to attack to reduce pressure on the home field and Trong Hoang was fouled by Australian players up to 4 times. The most important thing is that the energetic playing style, being present at the hot spots of this Nghe An player has created motivation for the young players to compete. In a match where the opponent holds the ball for 70% of the time, warriors who play passionately throughout the 90 minutes like Trong Hoang are very necessary.

It was no coincidence that Coach Park brought Van Toan and Ho Tan Tai onto the field in the second half, because he believed that these players, along with Trong Hoang, would do a good job of attacking on the right wing to equalize. Coach Graham Arnold had to replace defender A. Behich and then take Australia's best attacking midfielder, number 10 Ajin Hrustic, off the field to strengthen the defense and protect the score.

Trong Hoang in the match against Australia. Photo: Hai Hoang

Freed from defensive duties, Trong Hoang participated in the attack more and in fact A. Behich had to work very hard to block the attacks created by Trong Hoang and Van Toan.

Sofascore gave Hoang Duc 7.3 points, the highest on the Vietnamese team because of his good ability to connect defense and attack. Trong Hoang, Tien Linh, Tuan Anh were given 6.8 points - the second highest on the Vietnamese team, of course the goal scorer R.Grant was given the highest score of the match with 7.9 points.

When the opponent chooses a slow style of play, holding the ball a lot to disrupt the play and wear down the Vietnamese players, what Trong Hoang showed on My Dinh Stadium is worthy of praise. The saying "the older the ginger, the spicier it is" is true in the case of the versatile player Trong Hoang. Therefore, Nghe An fans are dreaming of seeing Trong Hoang, after many years of fighting, return to play for SLNA at the call of his homeland. When will that dream become a reality?

An Thanh