Van Duc and Tien Linh repay the trust with a victory.

The player who replaced Tien Linh in this historic match was Van Duc, and as usual,SLNA strikerHe was tasked with reinforcing the left flank defense of the Vietnamese national team to protect the 2-0 lead. But when the opportunity arose, Van Duc overcame the opponent's challenge, defying the doubts of those who thought he was losing his form and killer instinct, to create a masterpiece in the 78th minute with a left-footed shot that had been accumulating energy.

Van Duc scored what is considered a spectacular goal in this match.

The "Great Spring Victory of the Year of the Tiger 2022" in the 3rd Round of the World Cup Qualifiers between the Vietnam National Team and the China National Team (3-1) marked a historic milestone not only for Vietnamese football but also for the entire Southeast Asian region. This was also the first historic early spring victory for the Vietnam National Team against their neighboring team, a team that had once participated in the 2002 World Cup on home soil. Since 1997, across six encounters, the Golden Star Warriors had never achieved a positive result.

This glorious victory for the Vietnamese national team is a collective achievement of Vietnamese football under the brilliant leadership of head coach Park Hang-seo in the crucial, decisive match of the third qualifying round. When facing top teams in the continent, from the outset the Vietnamese team adopted a learning and experience-based mindset to gradually improve their level, only focusing their full efforts on a few matches against opponents considered to be within their group, such as Oman and China. This is because neighboring Thailand had previously reached the third qualifying round twice (2002, 2018) but only managed 4 points from 4 draws and then only 2 points from 2 draws. With this convincing first victory against China, a regional football record has been set by Coach Park Hang-seo and his team, and of course, once again we have surpassed the Thais in this prestigious competition.

This crucial match on the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year 2022 (Year of the Tiger) is not simply a matter of the Vietnamese national team's "determination to win" chanted on the training ground in the days leading up to Tet. Nor is it merely a momentary calculation by Coach Park Hang-seo and his team, seeing their opponent facing numerous problems with foreign players or the head coach position, and the overwhelming pressure to win that is inherent in a team considered to be a major force.

The composure and enthusiasm, the certainty and brilliance in every position on the field displayed by Coach Park Hang-seo's team stemmed from the daily growth of the Golden Star Warriors over the past four years since entering the continental arena. With Hung Dung's return, the backbone of the Vietnamese national team truly became more flexible and robust than ever before. Hung Dung provided the impetus to unleash the potential of Hoang Duc and Quang Hai. This allowed the remaining players, such as Tien Linh and Van Duc, to get closer to the opponent's goal (leading to Linh's goal to make it 2-0) and to have space to unleash their pent-up energy from defensive duties (leading to Duc's memorable goal to make it 3-0). Hung Dung's return and the outstanding performance of the Vietnamese national team captain can be said to be the decisive factor, the core of all the elements that led to Vietnam's victory in this historic match.

There have been many outstanding players in the Vietnamese national team who have been sidelined for various reasons (injuries, suspensions, COVID-19 infections, dips in form, etc.), but the team has always been able to make necessary additions, even in the most difficult times. Tuan Hai's maturity and effectiveness, despite only being given the role three times, is an excellent sign for the Vietnamese attack. Defender Tan Tai's strong technical ability and remarkable success against Chinese football is another bright spot for the Vietnamese team, consistently surprising opponents in both home and away matches of this third qualifying round.

Most notably, Park Hang-seo's vision and trust in his favorite players like Tien Linh and Van Duc have once again been proven and fully rewarded. Tien Linh, with 8 goals in the World Cup qualifiers, is undoubtedly the top scorer for the Vietnamese national team, and this record will not stop there. In the third round of qualifiers, Tien Linh couldn't maintain his usual form, at times having to step back to make room for new players, and then contracted Covid-19 when the team desperately needed him in attack. But the number one striker of Vietnam returned just in time at My Dinh Stadium to continue proving that everything is still within reach, in the steady progress of the Vietnamese national team.

Van Duc replaced Tien Linh in this historic match, and as usual, the SLNA striker was tasked with strengthening the defense on the left flank of the Vietnamese national team to protect the 2-0 lead. But when given the opportunity, Van Duc overcame the opponent's challenges, defying the doubts of those who thought he was losing his form and killer instinct, to create a masterpiece in the 78th minute with a left-footed shot that had accumulated energy from over 25 meters away from the goal. The ball bounced off the post and into the net, leaving the Chinese goalkeeper desperate to save it. Van Duc has made an incredible return to Vietnamese football and SLNA, just as coach Park Hang-seo and countless fans have followed every step of this young man from the rice-growing region.

This marked a memorable beginning and a return to the winning spirit of the Vietnamese national team, starting from the Spring of 2022. The renewal and restructuring of the Vietnamese team after the two matches against Australia and China by coach Park Hang-seo has proven to be correct, necessary, and more effective than ever before.

Chau Phu