Mr. Kim is looking carefully!

Opportunities for absent stars at AFF Cup 2024

To prepare for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign (starting on March 25), the VFF has made a fairly detailed plan. Accordingly, on March 20, the Vietnamese team is scheduled to have a friendly match with Myanmar at Binh Duong Stadium. This is a match for coach Kim Sang-sik to review the squad and make a final general assessment of the Vietnamese team's strength before we participate in the Asian qualifying round.

Domestic strikers want to make their mark at the time Xuan Son is injured

Without Xuan Son in the squad, will the Vietnamese team have a different playing style?

In the matches in March and June this year, within the framework of the Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnam team will definitely be without striker Nguyen Xuan Son due to injury. This is a risk for the Vietnam team in general and Xuan Son in particular, but it is also an opportunity for other strikers to demonstrate their abilities and prove their necessity to the team.

In addition to Nguyen Tien Linh, who is almost certain to play in the center forward position to replace Xuan Son, other strikers will compete for a place to play alongside the player currently playing for Binh Duong. In a series of matches in domestic tournaments in recent days (V-League and National Cup), there are 2 domestic strikers who are performing well, including Nham Manh Dung (The Cong Viettel) and Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong (Binh Duong).

These two strikers will not be present at the AFF Cup 2024, but they may be given a chance in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers. Both Viet Cuong (1.80 m tall) and Manh Dung (1.81 m) are strikers with physical advantages, good technique, and international experience, thanks to having previously played for the Vietnam U.23 team. In particular, Viet Cuong has the ability to take good free kicks, which will help the Vietnam team increase its danger in set pieces. It will not be surprising if these strikers play in the match against Laos (March 25) in the Asian Cup qualifiers, or the friendly match against Myanmar (March 20).

Also among the strikers not participating in the AFF Cup 2024, young player Dinh Bac (Hanoi Police Club) and veteran star Nguyen Cong Phuong (Binh Phuoc) are also names that fans are interested in.

These are the types of players who play with a technical approach, and can help coach Kim Sang-sik transform the attacking style of the Vietnamese team, from the long, physical style of playing with a lot of balls for Xuan Son before, to a short, more controlled style of playing with balls up front, in the context of Xuan Son's injury.

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Active competition among domestic strikers

On the other hand, the strikers who were once in the AFF Cup squad still need to work harder if they don’t want to lose their place in the national team. This includes striker Dinh Thanh Binh, who had a rather lackluster performance at the Southeast Asian Football Championship. Dinh Thanh Binh is also the only striker of the Vietnamese team at the 2024 AFF Cup who did not score any goals.

Young talent Bui Vi Hao is a striker who is attracting attention on domestic football fields.

Thanh Binh must prove himself more effective than before in order to maintain his position in the national team, in a context where there are many other strikers, such as Nham Manh Dung, Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong, Nguyen Dinh Bac, or Nguyen Cong Phuong, who are eager to replace Dinh Thanh Binh in the Vietnamese national team.

Even those who have performed well in the AFF Cup, such as Bui Vi Hao or Nguyen Van Toan, still need to perform better to prove that they deserve to stay in the national team. The competition among domestic strikers in the coming days will therefore be very fierce. And the aforementioned competition will create motivation to help the Vietnamese team develop better, creating motivation for the domestic football field to be better and more attractive!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vang-xuan-son-co-hoi-but-pha-cua-cac-chan-sut-noi-thay-kim-soi-ky-day-18525012311422794.htm