Khuat Van Khang's beautiful free kick in the friendly match with the Korean team
Basically, the Year of the Cat has come to an end for Khuat Van Khang after the first half of the match against the Iraqi team at the 2023 Asian Cup, on the day the young midfielder of The Cong Viettel Club left a strong impression with 1 assist and received 2 yellow cards, having to "take an early bath".
It was a very special experience for a young man still in his 20s at the top playground of the continent. The contrasting emotional states, from the peak of happiness to the depths of disappointment, gave this young midfielder extremely valuable lessons.
Few people know that when entering the locker room after the first half ended, Khuat Van Khang, in shame and torment, blamed himself terribly and did not dare to look up to talk to anyone, just waiting for comments and evaluations from coach Philippe Troussier as well as the coaching staff.
But coach Troussier then had an unexpected reaction, when he focused on discussing with the team to prepare for the scenarios in the second half, as if the red card and the fatal tackle by Khuat Van Khang did not exist.
Khuat Van Khang in the match between Vietnam and Iraq at the 2023 Asian Cup
This surprised and shocked the young man who was deeply disappointed after making a serious mistake in his first start for the Vietnamese team at the 2023 Asian Cup.
Khuat Van Khang expressed: "At that time, I was extremely disappointed and blamed myself because the red card had cost us the valuable advantage after the opening goal by Bui Hoang Viet Anh and the whole team had created at the end of the first half.
My mind was filled with mixed emotions as I walked down the tunnel to the dressing room, not knowing what to expect at the team meeting, even ready for the script to be put on "hairdryer" mode.
But I could not imagine Coach Troussier's reaction, when he did not mention a word about my situation, focusing on preparing with the team for the second half scenarios. After the match, Coach Troussier also did not mention this matter.
This shocked and moved me. I understood that Coach Troussier was trying to help me, so that I could overcome my negative emotions, calmly look back at myself and learn this lesson thoroughly."
Khuat Van Khang's disastrous red card
Remember 1 year ago, Khuat Van Khang welcomed the Lunar New Year of Quy Mao 2023 with a special memory when he scored on his first debut for the Vietnam national team, against the Singaporean team in a friendly tournament in Ho Chi Minh City, even though he had not yet played for the first team in professional tournaments.
After a year of hard work and taking advantage of every opportunity, the player born in 2003 has made steady progress, with a total of 14 appearances for The Cong Viettel Club in the V-League, with his first professional goal marking a 2-1 victory over HAGL Club at Pleiku Stadium.
In the Vietnamese national team, Khuat Van Khang also had 10 appearances under coach Philippe Troussier, bringing the number of appearances for the national team to 12 times, only not playing in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the Philippines.
Those numbers show that Khuat Van Khang has been carefully prepared by The Cong Viettel Club and the coaching staff of the Vietnam national team at the age of 20, to be ready to make a further breakthrough in this year of the Dragon.
Khuat Van Khang is making steady progress in the Viettel The Cong Club shirt.
He expressed: "Looking back on the past year, I feel that I have changed a lot, almost completely, thanks to the opportunities created by Viettel The Cong Club and the Vietnam national team to play more.
From not knowing what V-League was, I had a fair amount of capital in this arena and scored my first goal. My mindset when entering the field was also different, more confident and no longer shy and hesitant.
The 2023 Asian Cup will definitely be a milestone that I will remember forever, from the experience of playing against the top teams in the continent, to the valuable lessons from mistakes.
I know that I am still very young, there is still a long way to learn. I am still on the journey to find my place in Viettel The Cong Club and the Vietnam national team.
I know I will have to be humble, diligent, and try harder, and the best way to assert myself is to "speak" on the training ground, in the precious minutes I get to play, so as not to disappoint the expectations and opportunities that the uncles and aunts at Viettel The Cong Club have given me."
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