Song Lam Nghe An paid a heavy price after a draw against Hong Linh Ha Tinh

In the match against HL Ha Tinh in round 9 of V.League 2020, when the first half was about to end, defender Tran Dinh Dong, while participating in defense, collided with teammate Gustavo Santos. The fierce aerial battle caused Dinh Dong to fall and injure his right knee.

Immediately, the SLNA defender was given first aid, bandaged and left the field to make way for Pham The Nhat. Currently, Dinh Dong still has to use a brace to immobilize his knee and must wait another week for the wound to stop swelling before the exact extent of the injury can be checked.

Although the type and severity of the injury are still unknown, it is likely that the 1987-born defender of SLNA will have to rest for a long time. This is a huge loss for the Nghe An team because in the hands of coach Quang Truong, most of the players are young and inexperienced.

Defender Dinh Dong suffered a serious injury. Photo: Duc Anh

Accordingly, difficulties are piling up for SLNA as the injury list has reached nearly ten people. Previously, players such as Van Khanh, Xuan Manh, Xuan Thang, Sy Nam, Ngoc Duc, Van Lam all had to sit out because they had not recovered.

In the next match, SLNA will host Viettel on July 18 at Vinh Stadium. In this match, the home team will certainly not have the services of experienced players such as Dinh Dong and Van Khanh.

But in recent matches, Dinh Dong has had to continuously move to the right wing to play even though he usually plays as a left-back. In the recent match against HL Ha Tinh, SLNA's coaching staff had to use young defender Mai Sy Hoang, born in 1999, to fill the gap left by his seniors.

From a defense that was considered the most solid in V.League, with 5 clean sheets and unbeaten, SLNA has not enjoyed the feeling of victory in the last 4 matches, they conceded a total of 9 goals and only scored 6 goals.

Tran Dinh Dong - the 'ageless' warrior of Song Lam Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - At the age of 33, defender Tran Dinh Dong had his contract extended by SLNA for another year before V.League 2020. And this former national player is proving to everyone that he is not sticking with his hometown team to retire.