If we approach the achievements and performances of the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup 2024 from a statistical perspective, the audience will surely be overwhelmed by the terrible performance of Nguyen Xuan Son. The striker of Nam Dinh Club is leading in all important and visible indicators for the average audience: from goals, assists, big chances created, and average points.
However, football is not as simple as statistics. There is a truth in top football: the champion team does not always have the strongest attack, but is definitely the team that concedes the fewest goals. The Vietnam team has only conceded 3 goals at this time, the least in the tournament. The real defense is the fulcrum that supports the championship dream of the "Golden Star Warriors". There, we see the defensive experts from Hanoi Club: Nguyen Thanh Chung, Do Duy Manh.
Both the Vietnamese team's offense and defense are playing well at the AFF Cup 2024.
Shield "made in Hanoi"
Since the start of the 2024 AFF Cup, coach Kim Sang-sik has never kept the same starting lineup. The ability to rotate personnel has helped the Vietnamese team have almost no physical problems in the face of the very harsh competition schedule of the Southeast Asian region. However, in all matches, Mr. Kim always leaves at least one factor of Hanoi Club in the center of defense.
In the two semi-final matches against Singapore, the influence of the defense of Mr. Hien's team was clearly shown. In the first leg, coach Kim Sang-sik placed Thanh Chung in the middle of the defense and Xuan Manh in the role of a left-sided center-back. In the second leg, Xuan Manh was pushed up to play left-sided center-back, and Xuan Manh's role as a left-sided center-back was taken over by Duy Manh. Regardless of the scenario, the steel shields of Hanoi Club helped the Vietnamese team stand firm against the opponent's attacks.
Thanh Chung holds Quang Hai, celebrating the victory in the group stage
Thanh Chung played all 5 matches in which he was selected to start for the Vietnam national team at the AFF Cup 2024. The Vietnam national team kept a clean sheet in 2 of these matches. The 1997-born center-back recovered the ball an average of 2.4 times/match, blocked the ball 1.2 times/match, and cleared the ball 4.6 times/match. All of these are the highest among the center-backs of the Vietnam national team, the team with the number one defense in this tournament.
But the statistic that encapsulates Thanh Chung's excellent class at the AFF Cup 2024 must be his tackling stats. Thanh Chung did not tackle even once during the 449 minutes of play in this tournament.
The great Paolo Maldini of AC Milan once famously said: “If I have to tackle, I haven’t read the situation well enough.” Thanh Chung, the central defender in the middle of the 3-man defense of the Vietnamese team, “read” his opponents too well and never had to correct his mistakes by diving.
While Thanh Chung is calm and effective in covering, Duy Manh is strong and explosive in situations that require collision. Statistics show that Duy Manh won 93% of the duels at the AFF Cup 2024. In terms of one-on-one duels, Duy Manh also won 100%.
At the national team level, coaches tend to use defenders who are familiar with each other at their clubs. The Thanh Chung – Duy Manh pair clearly gives the Korean coach too many options. Xuan Manh, with the injury he suffered in the semi-final against Singapore, may have difficulty playing in the final.
Duy Manh is still performing excellently in defense.
But the mark from Mr. Hien's Hanoi Club is still shown with Van Vi or Bui Hoang Viet Anh, the factors that used to play for Hanoi Club and are too familiar with seniors like Duy Manh or Thanh Chung.
The proof tournament of the Hanoi Club duo
The 2024 AFF Cup is actually a tournament that holds more significance than usual for the duo Duy Manh and Thanh Chung. Both have had a difficult time in the national team under coach Philippe Troussier. At the Asian Cup in January 2024, the Hanoi FC midfielder only played for 13 minutes. In the two defeats that ended the French coach's reign against Indonesia, Duy Manh was not even called up.
For Thanh Chung, the situation was even more severe. In June 2023, after calling up Thanh Chung, Mr. Troussier removed the Hanoi central defender from the list of friendly matches against Hong Kong and Syria. The reason announced at that time was that Thanh Chung had a digestive disorder. However, the reality was that Thanh Chung was considered unsuitable for Mr. Troussier's player management style, which originated from a misunderstanding on the training ground.
Duy Manh and Thanh Chung always remember those words to strive and fight tirelessly on the training ground and the V-League field. So now, when the Vietnamese team returns to the regional final, the Hanoi duo is the steel shield for the team.
The excellence of Thanh Chung and Duy Manh contributed significantly to bringing the Vietnamese team to the final.
The return of the steel central defenders is largely due to Mr. Hien, who always encourages and supports the players in their journey to conquer glory. Before the second leg of the semi-final against Singapore, the Chairman of SHB Bank offered a reward of 2 billion VND if the Vietnamese team won the AFF Cup 2024.
Having brought Hanoi FC up from the third division and SHB Bank up since 2008, when the world crisis began to explode, Mr. Hien understands better than anyone else the dedication and passion to nurture the spirit of the players and staff, but money is equally important so that everyone can take care of the home front.
It is thanks to that culture of Mr. Hien that Thanh Chung and Duy Manh can overcome difficulties so quickly and become the pillars of the Vietnamese team's defense at the AFF Cup 2024. And if the Vietnamese team returns to the regional throne, the inspiration from Mr. Hien will certainly be the biggest motivation.
Thanhnien.vn
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thanh-chung-duy-manh-la-chan-thep-cua-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-tro-lai-ngoan-muc-the-nao-1852501011552085.htm
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