Que Ngoc Hai plays central midfielder, why not?

In 2020, Mr. Polking worked briefly at Ho Chi Minh City Club but was not really successful. Then, when facing the Thai team led by him, many Vietnamese people expressed doubts and did not appreciate the talent of this coach born in 1976 with dual Brazilian and German nationality. But with 2 AFF Cup 2021 and 2022 titles, Mr. Polking proved to be a truly talented coach, when the Thais had the best force as well as when the top stars were not "released" to compete like the recent story with Chanathip, Supachai and Supachock... they still deserved to stand at the "top" of the region.

The celebration of the Vietnamese team players in the first leg of the AFF Cup 2022 final. Photo courtesy of Hai Hoang

Remember in the 2021 AFF Cup (actually 2020, played late due to the Covid-19 pandemic), Thailand with full strength had no difficulty when facing Vietnam in the semi-finals (which were playing the 3rd qualifying round of the World Cup). A year later, the Thai team met the Vietnamese team again in the 2022 AFF Cup final. Although Vietnam led in the first half of the first leg, the Thai team then took the lead, then equalized 2-2 to create an advantage for the second leg. With Theerathon as the explosive in the 2 goals in the first leg and with Theerathon's own unexpected shot in the second leg, Hung Dung and his teammates had to accept defeat "convinced" by their opponents.

The reason for the long story about Mr. Polking and Theerathon above is because we want to point out one thing: The Vietnamese team has the factors and practical premises to do what Thailand did, but they were not persistent and thorough, so they could not succeed as expected.

Remember the match between the Vietnam National Team and the Malaysia National Team on October 10, 2019 at My Dinh Stadium in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup: in the 40th minute of the match, Ngoc Hai made a long pass behind the opponent's defender and Quang Hai read the situation very quickly, rushed down and kicked the ball to hit the ground, scoring a goal for the home team, to the admiration of many fans and the opponent.

The Vietnam team will be strictly protected in Indonesia. Photo courtesy of Hai Hoang

Remember the first half of the first leg of the AFF Cup 2022 final on January 13, 2023, minute 22, Ngoc Hai suddenly appeared on the left wing, received a long pass from Hoang Duc, controlled the ball neatly and chipped the ball into the penalty area for Tien Linh to cut in and head the ball to open the score, surprising the opponent's defense.

The two situations mentioned above are both related to the outstanding assists of a central defender, Ngoc Hai. They are both sudden, unexpected situations that leave the opponent unable to react and are generally quite similar to the assists of... Theerathon of Thailand as demonstrated at the beginning of the article.

Que Ngoc Hai made an accurate pass for Tien Linh to score the opening goal in the match between Vietnam and Malaysia in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. Photo courtesy of Hai Hoang

The only difference that shows the talent of Mr. Polking and Theerathon is that he dared to boldly move this full-back to play as a central midfielder, allowed to play freely, take on defense when needed but will be the trigger for every scoring situation (passing high behind the opponent's defender, passing through the middle, crossing from the wing as usual...). Ngoc Hai only shined in a few situations or he was not assigned the same task as Theerathon, is something that only he or Mr. Park Hang-seo knows? And perhaps, let's learn from the Thai people themselves from Theerathon's story and develop the potential of defensive star Ngoc Hai to defeat the Thai people in the near future?

And so, will Song Lam Nghe An or the Vietnam National Team let Ngoc Hai play as a central midfielder, something that was not unfamiliar to him when he was at Vinh Stadium before, and be free to develop his ability to create, even score a free kick like in the match against Binh Dinh in round 2 of V-League 2022? Of course, when and only when creating peace of mind in the defense, will Ngoc Hai playing higher up be both a defensive position from a distance, directly putting pressure on the opponent, and freely finding space to direct passes to teammates like Theerathon often does excellently and Ngoc Hai himself also did well against two formidable opponents Malaysia and Thailand?

This proposal is not new, not surprising to experts and Ngoc Hai himself. This central defender will have to learn how to move flexibly, learn how to play creatively, which is not easy compared to focusing on cutting off a pass or "catching" a striker. But if Ngoc Hai can do it step by step and do it well, it will be beneficial for himself and the team, something that in Vietnamese football today, not many people have the ability to both promote their inherent strengths and create more diverse and surprising ways of playing, contributing effectively to the overall success today and tomorrow./.