The story of a player serving his home team and the national team

The remaining names that have been called up such as Xuan Tien, Van Cuong, Van Binh, Dinh Bac have not been released by their home teams and may not have met the requirements set by the French coach, so they will stay to compete in the V-League after the break. The story of serving the home team or the national team continues to be raised, not only in Vietnamese football.

While preparing to apply a "standard" competition schedule with the world, the V-League and the First Division are currently taking a transitional step as many people know. But the way to concentrate the teams for a long time, even though it can be divided into periods, as Mr. Philippe Troussier is doing, is still the old way for a long time, considered suitable because the playing philosophy of the new and old coaches are not the same, even the stars have to get used to it and gradually be able to respond. The story of the teams only concentrating for a few days and then officially competing like on FIFA Day is a story of the future. Mr. Philippe Troussier of course really wants that, but if he demands immediate application, it means failure, a failure that is predicted.

U20 Vietnam was eliminated but has the right to be proud of what it has shown. Photo AFC

Therefore, through the first training session, getting acquainted and adapting, the current U23 players are considered by Coach Philippe Troussier to be lacking a player who leads the game and a player with good finishing ability in the attack. And the coach hopes that the U20 stars who just played in Uzbekistan, the players who can meet the requirements among the 4 potential candidates mentioned above. Van Khang is the brightest name, not only Mr. Philippe Troussier but also Coach Park Hang-seo who previously promoted both the U23 and the Vietnam National Team, the best young player of the 2022 season. In addition, the "king of the youth tournament" Quoc Viet is a bright name for a position in the attack when he has continuously scored in the recent continental tournament. Of course, Van Truong and Duc Viet are also bright names in the midfield positions of the U20 and U23.

Coach Philippe Troussier is very happy that Van Khang and the three names mentioned above are still only playing as reserves at Viettel, Hanoi FC and Hoang Anh Gia Lai. If they stay at their home team, they will continue to wear out their pants on the bench. But when they join U23 Vietnam, they will benefit both ways, they will learn a lot, a lot.

The matter of staying to serve the home team or joining the national team will be more complicated for teams that are having difficulty with their personnel, currently using many young players in the V-League, including Song Lam Nghe An, Da Nang and Binh Duong. Song Lam Nghe An is the team with the youngest average age in the V-League, currently contributing two players to the U23 national team, Khac Luong and Manh Quynh (the young players who were called up and returned are Van Thanh, Van Luong, Quang Tu). At Song Lam Nghe An, Khac Luong and Manh Quynh only play reserve roles, so it is very normal for them to be easily "released" to the U23, not to mention that Mr. Philippe Troussier has long been quite "fond" of these two names.

Young midfielder Tran Nam Hai joined the U20 Vietnam team for the first time. Photo courtesy of Chung Le

But if Xuan Tien and Van Cuong are called up to join U23 as "summons",Lam River Nghe Anwill be extremely difficult in the upcoming V-League matches, because the reserve factors for the positions that these two players are responsible for cannot be said to create the necessary peace of mind. Van Cuong has just played very well in the U20, but Xuan Tien has not played a single minute in the last 3 important matches of the U20, which is a big question mark? Similarly, if Vi Hao is called up, Binh Duong will also find it difficult to release his players because of the team's current poor performance. But for Da Nang, the story seems more optimistic and open when both Duy Cuong and Dinh Duy, who are the main players (Phi Hoang is injured), are still kept for the U23 even though the home team is facing many difficulties. Hoang Anh Gia Lai is also continuously "drawing" but still allows both Quoc Viet and Duc Viet to contribute their talents to the U23.

Perhaps, the story of serving the home team and the national team is very difficult to "have both sides satisfied", so people always have to fight, have to make concessions, have to carefully calculate every final decision. With the common view as well as that of Mr. Philippe Troussier "only call those who are in high form, ready to contribute to the national team" and when Vietnamese football turns truly professional, it is the players who decide for themselves a position in the home team as well as the national team. If they play well, maintain impressive form, of course they will be the main players in the home team and ready to be called up to the national team when called. Of course, there are also people who decide to "end their international career", meaning stop participating in the national team, to focus on the home team.

Back to the story of the 4 U20 players who were just called up to the U23 Vietnam team mentioned above. They will be tested as required, will either hold out or be kicked out and return to their home team. The players who stay with their home team and play V-League with good results will be called up by Mr. Troussier to supplement when necessary. That is a daily occurrence for teams and for sports. Therefore, wherever you are, wherever you go, you need to focus and make efforts to overcome difficulties and move forward when the door of opportunity is always open to anyone.

Hoa Bui