Hoang Duc is better in each match than the previous one, will he be perfect in the final against Thailand?

Hoang Duc's silent contributions

In the second leg of the semi-final match between Vietnam and Singapore last night (December 29), Hoang Duc was the one who made the decisive pass for Nguyen Xuan Son to score, raising the score to 2-0 for the Vietnam team.

Hoang Duc is in very good form.

Photo: Minh Tu

This was also a rare occasion for this midfielder to appear in the opponent's penalty area. During the previous period of the second leg of the semi-final in particular and in the previous journey of the Vietnamese team in general, Hoang Duc was often positioned quite far from the penalty area (except for the first half of the match against Indonesia in the group stage, when he played as a withdrawn striker).

Hoang Duc playing far from the opponent's penalty area is part of coach Kim Sang-sik's tactical requirements. The Korean coach wants Hoang Duc to play the role of a moderator, even a ball-winner for the Vietnamese team, when the opponent brings the ball to our field.

Up to this point, Hoang Duc has fulfilled the above role. The Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup does not have the type of muscular midfielder, similar to the nature of Nguyen Minh Chau at the AFF Cup 2008 or Nguyen Huy Hung and Pham Duc Huy at the AFF Cup 2018 (tournaments where the Vietnamese team won the Southeast Asian championship). However, up to now, we still compete well in the midfield area, still defend well from a distance.

That is thanks to the role of Hoang Duc. He does not recover the ball by playing aggressively, but wins the ball back with intelligence in the disputes, along with very good ball-keeping and dribbling techniques. Hoang Duc's image at the AFF Cup 2024 is similar to that of Nguyen Tuan Anh before: a central midfielder who is good at both supporting defense and supporting attack, a technician but willing to play the role of "background" for his teammates around him.

Ready to shine in the final

But Hoang Duc can be even better, even more explosive in the upcoming matches when requested by the coach. Mr. Kim Sang-sik has started to think about pushing Hoang Duc higher, in some moments of important matches, to create surprise for the opponent. In such a high-up situation, Hoang Duc passed the ball to Xuan Son to score against Singapore last night, as mentioned at the beginning of the article.

Hoang Duc at AFF Cup 2022

Many domestic football experts also predict Hoang Duc's ability to shine in the first and second leg finals. Former VFF Vice President of Professional Affairs Duong Vu Lam said: "I expect Hoang Duc in the key matches of the Vietnamese team in this year's tournament. He has both good technique and a good physique (1.84 m tall). He has moves that opponents cannot expect. Hoang Duc will know how to shine in decisive moments."

Meanwhile, former coach of the Vietnam national team, Mr. Phan Thanh Hung said: "Players like Xuan Son, Tien Linh, Quang Hai, Hoang Duc will play an important role for the Vietnam national team in the final match. They will be ready for the upcoming championship match."

Hoang Duc is also the only player in the group of stars mentioned above who has not scored for the Vietnamese team at this year's AFF Cup. However, that makes him even more dangerous, because Hoang Duc's attacking style has not been revealed to opponents yet!

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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoang-duc-tran-sau-lai-hay-hon-tran-truoc-den-chung-ket-dau-thai-se-hoan-hao-185241230144604214.htm