How is the Vietnam team aiming for the ASIAN Cup?

The only notable good news is that in this list, there is the name of the recently naturalized Vietnamese goalkeeper Filip Nguyen and he is officially allowed to play for the Vietnam National Team. The rest, everything is still within the guesswork of many people, because the V.League 2023-2024 is playing until the end of round 8, then the Vietnam National Team will officially gather. From now until then, the players still have to play well and wait for the call from the French coach, which means that opportunities are still open to many people, not just in this tournament.

Of course, those who are knowledgeable understand that in any tournament, big or small, the official registration number will only be 23 people, including 3 goalkeepers. That means there will be 27 players on the list of eliminated players, who will be "returned to the factory" as they have always been. There will be 2 bases to visualize the strength of the Vietnam National Team in the upcoming training session. First, is the number of 23 players who were named and played in the 2 second qualifying matches against the Philippine National Team and the Iraqi National Team recently. Second, is the force that was called up, sent back and the latest number through the practice of 8 rounds of V.League.

From there, it can be imagined that in the goalkeeper position, Mr. Troussier will call up 3-5 people, including Van Lam, Dinh Trieu, Van Binh, Filip Nguyen and who knows, Van Hoang's return after Hanoi FC's excellent match in the AFC Champions League? The appearance of Nguyen Filip (his Vietnamese name) will attract the attention of the whole region, even Europe and Asia. Let's wait and see what will happen in the goal of the Vietnam National Team and how the Golden Star Warriors' team will be upgraded in strength and the effect of overseas Vietnamese players returning to their homeland to compete will happen afterwards?

The defense line includes old characters such as Ngoc Hai, Thanh Binh, Viet Anh, Tuan Tai, Minh Trong, Van Thanh..., Duy Manh will return, but Tien Dung may not? Xuan Manh was retained in the 2 matches of Round 2 mentioned above, but did not enter the field for a single minute, and with his recent unstable performance, he is unlikely to be called up if not really needed. Tan Tai is currently being transferred to play in the middle of the field at Hanoi Police, making it even more difficult to be called up to the national team when the defense is as crowded as it is now?

The midfield is of course always called with the majority of players and it will be difficult to miss factors such as Tuan Anh, Thai Son, Quang Hai (recently making a strong comeback) and Hung Dung. But whether Hoang Duc is named or not is a difficult question to answer?

If we look back at the time when Mr. Troussier worked for the Japanese National Team more than 20 years ago, it is not strange that he continues to exclude Hoang Duc, because he does not need the type of player who plays without collective cohesion as he has openly said recently. If Hoang Duc does not really change, does not learn how to play fast, know how to defend, know how to attack more smoothly, and more collectively, then even if he wins the 2023 Vietnam Golden Ball, he will not be called. Hoang Duc's lesson is clearly not only for the midfielder of The Cong Viettel, but also for many other stars. Midfielder Tien Anh will probably also be called, but whether he can stay or not is very difficult to say at this time.

The Vietnamese team's forward line, which has been alarming, is now continuously reporting good news according to each development in the V.League. Tuan Hai, Tien Linh, Dinh Bac, Van Toan... have scored in turn to bring victory to the home team, while also bringing "plus points" to the French coach in the selection process. Among them, Tuan Hai's stability and improved scoring skills are the biggest confidence for Mr. Troussier, besides Dinh Bac's daily maturity as many people know. Meanwhile, the status of star Van Quyet is also very difficult to predict?

Registering up to 50 players means that the testing will continue to supplement and perfect the 23-man squad in the final list. What the public will hardly know, and of course, the opponent will hardly know, is that Mr. Troussier will not let anyone "control" the force and the squad arrangement before each match.

Of course, from now until the official competition at the ASIAN Cup, many unexpected and interesting developments will appear, such as injuries and performance, so predicting a certain framework is obviously not convincing enough. In the meantime, let's wait for the V.League to play 3 rounds 6, 7 and 8 smoothly and with quality, without anything unfavorable to the common work of the Vietnam National Team. That will help the players who are called and selected to be "warmed up" enough, have enough confidence to enter the biggest tournament of the continent, as necessary provisions for the process of continuing to compete in the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup right after that./.

Hoa Bui