Good for you and the Vietnamese team, but…

Time to go home

Cong Phuong returns to contribute to the Vietnam national team

At the end of the 2022 season and the beginning of 2023, HAGL Club and Mr. Duc "gave the green light" for a series of mountain town stars to leave to find new shores, including Cong Phuong going to Japan to play for Yokohama FC, who were playing in J-League 1 at that time, and Van Toan joining FC Seoul E-land in K-Legue 2.

The common point of these two overseas deals is that both players could not find a place as expected. Although he played more than Cong Phuong, in September 2023, Van Toan proactively sought to leave the Korean team to return to play football in his country, with the desire to return to the Vietnamese national team.

This determination has helped the player nicknamed "son of the wind god" regain his best form, win his first V-League championship with Nam Dinh Club and is currently at the top of Kim Sang-sik's priority list in the Vietnam national team.

Meanwhile, Cong Phuong was slower. He still stayed at Yokohama FC in the second season, hoping to have more playing opportunities when the team was relegated to J-League 2.

Cong Phuong used to be the most favorite player in Vietnam.

However, things did not go as expected, when the boy from Do Luong received after 2 years of playing football in Japan was only 3 appearances for Yokohama FC in the Emperor's Cup, and very few times playing for the B teams.

This has left a great deal of regret and worry for a section of fans of the player once dubbed "Vietnam's Messi", as coach Troussier and now Kim Sang-sik both affirmed that the Vietnamese team cannot have any special favors, there is only room for those who regularly compete and have good form.

It is a sad reality for Cong Phuong and the Vietnamese team, when there is a lack of a factor capable of causing change with the sudden swerves and turns that have become the trademark of the player most favored by Mr. Duc.

But the good news came when on September 14, Yokohama FC officially confirmed that Nguyen Cong Phuong would leave the team. The former HAGL player himself also confirmed that he would officially be free and leave the Japanese team after September 15.

Is there still a chance to compete in the AFF Cup 2024?

Cong Phuong will end 2 years of little competition in Japan

Cong Phuong's return is good news for everyone, as fans will once again be able to see one of the most beloved and most watched players regularly return to the field to play football.

Personally, when Cong Phuong returns to Vietnam, he will also be able to regain his good form in a professional environment, to return to the Vietnamese national team like his close friend Van Toan.

For their part, coach Kim Sang-sik and the Vietnamese team can also be satisfied with having another quality, experienced option to enhance the quality of their playing style, which will be more proactive in attacking when controlling the ball.

It's just a pity that at this point, V-League 2024 - 2025 has officially closed, not allowing additional registrations while AFF Cup 2024 is only 3 months away from kicking off.

Cong Phuong after scoring against the Palestine team

Therefore, Cong Phuong's choices will only be limited to ambitious first-class teams, with the top 3 candidates being PVF-CAND, Binh Phuoc and Phu Dong Ninh Binh.

Among them, the most promising and convincing name for Cong Phuong to choose to join is Phu Dong Ninh Binh football team, when coach Nguyen Viet Thang owns a strong national team with Van Lam, Thanh Thinh, Van Thuan... and former HAGL players Huu Tuan, Thanh Binh, Minh Binh, Duc Viet...

If he joins the ancient capital team, Cong Phuong will find a familiar atmosphere similar to the national team, especially when coach Viet Thang was his teacher in the Vietnam team under Mr. Troussier.

Cong Phuong will have to quickly regain his form if he wants a place in the Vietnamese national team.

It's just a pity that Cong Phuong's playing environment will be the first division, with opponents mostly young or "overdue" from the V-League, not facing quality foreign players in each round.

But "something is better than nothing". Hopefully playing for teams with ambitions to play at the top like Phu Dong Ninh Binh will help Cong Phuong rekindle his joy of playing football, to quickly find his best version.

Hopefully, Cong Phuong's return will help the Vietnamese team become stronger in preparation for the goal of conquering the upcoming AFF Cup 2024, where we are currently significantly behind the two opponents Indonesia and Thailand.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cong-phuong-tro-ve-viet-nam-tot-cho-chinh-anh-va-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-nhung-18524091511572866.htm