U20 Vietnam's key player injured before World Cup opening match

Trong Dai suffered a relapse of his right leg injury and was unable to practice with the team on the afternoon of May 19.

On the afternoon of May 19, U20 Vietnam practiced at Cheonan Football Center A. The media was only allowed to cover the first 15 minutes, when coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team warmed up with a fun phantom soccer game. Immediately after, six bodyguards and staff from the Organizing Committee protected the team closely, not allowing any media agency to record.

During nearly two hours of training, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan mainly had his players practice against each other on 2/3 of the field. The only player who had to practice separately was Nguyen Trong Dai. The U20 Vietnam midfielder had a muscle problem. Before that, in the morning practice session of the same day, he still practiced normally with his teammates.

Trong Dai's injury makes the U20 Vietnam coaching staff a bit worried. Photo: Lam Thoa

Trong Dai was the captain and played outstandingly in the 2016 U19 Asian qualifiers, contributing greatly to helping the team win a ticket to the U20 World Cup for the first time in history. However, a subsequent knee cartilage injury caused the Viettel player to miss half a year of treatment. It was not until this past March that Trong Dai was able to return to competition.

During the afternoon training session on May 19, Thanh Hau also had to wear a knee brace. However, the recovery process of this HAGL player is going very well. Thanh Hau went to Korea as a “reserve”, but at the last minute was added to the list to replace Van Toi who was injured.

U20 Vietnam will play their opening match at the U20 World Cup on May 22, against New Zealand.

Vietnam team's match schedule in the group stage of the U20 World Cup 2017

May 22: Vietnam - New Zealand
May 25: France - Vietnam
May 28: Honduras - Vietnam

According to VNE