Thanh Hoa - SLNA: The story of two players wearing the number 20 jersey.

An injury sustained at the SEA Games 30 has meant that Trong Hung has only played 17 minutes in the V.League 2020 so far. He only came on as a substitute for Hoang Vu Samson at Tam Ky Stadium when the score was 2-1, playing as a left winger in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Perhaps the biggest regret for coach F. Lopez is that he has not had the services of this 20-year-old player in the five matches he has coached.

Return from injury

Phan Văn Đức is currently the hope of SLNA. Photo: Xuân Thủy.

When the Italian coach arrived in Thanh Hoa to work, he was only introduced to Trong Hung as a key player, who had played in 24 out of 26 matches last season and scored 3 goals for the team. In fact, in his first V.League season, Trong Hung had already taken the place of his senior teammate Dinh Tung due to his enthusiastic and aggressive playing style.

Despite being only 1.72m tall and weighing 67kg, Trong Hung compensates with his skillful dribbling that leaves opposing defenders behind. Many times, from the left wing, this number 20 midfielder switches the ball to his right foot to execute curling shots into the top corner of the goal. Trong Hung's running style is similar to Van Duc's, and coincidentally, both are left-wing midfielders and wear the number 20 jersey.

Having been called up to the Vietnam U22 team and the National Team by Coach Park during Van Duc's injury, Vietnamese fans hoped Trong Hung would be a "Van Duc 2.0" version. However, in reality, Trong Hung's experience in avoiding collisions seems to be not as good as his senior, so the rising star has repeatedly suffered injuries. At the SEA Games 30 and the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, Trong Hung did not contribute much.

Trong Hung is Thanh Hoa's trump card. (Photo: Thanh Hoa FC)

But surely, coach Thanh Cong will field his trump card in the match against SLNA. His brief appearances against Quang Nam showed that Trong Hung is ready for his home debut. From a technical standpoint, with SLNA's two wingers, Van Duc and Tuan Tai, both very strong, the home team needs players with speed and technique to get points. Given that Dinh Tung is not yet ready, Trong Hung is a good choice for the new coach Thanh Cong.

The fate of SLNA's number 20 seems better, at least Van Duc has played 209 minutes and scored 2 goals for SLNA. Having played for the Nghe An team for 5 seasons, Van Duc's experience is far superior to Trong Hung's. Compared to Trong Hung, the visiting team's midfielder is rated much higher in terms of creating chances, scoring goals, and disrupting the opponent's defense.

An interesting confrontation.

With the two foreign strikers proving quite disappointing, Van Duc is "carrying the team," and Coach Thanh Cong understands that. It remains to be seen how Coach Thanh Cong will utilize the winger pairing of Van Thang and Trong Hung to neutralize the Tuan Tai and Van Duc duo. Coach Thanh Cong also played as a winger during his playing career, so he knows how to help his players maximize their strengths in both attack and defense.

In the playing style of both SLNA and Thanh Hoa, the wing midfielders can switch flanks. This means that at times, you will see the two number 20s from the two teams facing each other, giving people the opportunity to witness Van Duc and Trong Hung's skills being tested. Both are currently the pride of fans from Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces.

While Trong Hung is expected to bring the first points to the home team, Van Duc, after his penalty goal in Vinh against SHB Da Nang, will be the hope for SLNA to secure three points. The tactical battle between coaches Quang Truong and Thanh Cong will therefore be more interesting than ever, making this North Central Vietnam derby even more watchable.