Van Toan's Vietnam Day poster at Seoul E-Land Club
Van Toan and Cong Phuong are extremely close friends, one could say to the point of being like arms and legs, far beyond simple comradeship as the two have eaten, lived and worked together since childhood at Ham Rong.
Since exploding at U.19 Vietnam and then at HAGL Club as well as the U.22 and national teams, Van Toan and Cong Phuong have often played together to create memorable moments that have touched the hearts of many fans.
The special friendship between the two makes many fans think of the Subasa - Misaki duo in the classic Japanese football comic series, where Van Toan, like Misaki, is very talented but always happy to support his friend with a lot of mutability to flourish.
This is clearly seen at HAGL, Cong Phuong is always number 1 from the field to the heart of Mr. Duc as the number 1 choice in attack, and when he goes abroad or is loaned to Ho Chi Minh City Club, people see Van Toan extremely explosive as the top scorer of V-League.
Cong Phuong and Quang Hai in the Vietnamese national team jersey
The peak of the mutual support relationship was V-League 2022, where Cong Phuong had 5 goals and Van Toan had 7 goals. However, it must be added that Cong Phuong's performance was somewhat affected by injury.
For the first time since playing together in V-League 2015, both Van Toan and Cong Phuong temporarily left Mr. Duc to play abroad this season. Cong Phuong chose Yokohama Club in J-League 1 while Van Toan chose to start at a lower level with Seoul E-Land team in K-League 2.
The gap in skill level between J-League 1 and K-League 2 is huge. Therefore, it is not surprising that Cong Phuong has encountered many difficulties in finding opportunities to play for Yokohama FC.
On the contrary, Van Toan's move to Seoul E-Land Club in K-League 2 has the advantage that coach Park Choong-kyun, who used to work at Hanoi Club and the Vietnamese national team, knows his ability, personality and playing style.
Van Toan scores for Vietnam national team ahead of AFF Cup 2022
This helped Van Toan integrate very quickly, demonstrated through the Seoul E-land Club, such as giving away shirts produced by himself to all team members, and the club organizing a separate Vietnam Day at the team.
Up to now, Van Toan has had 10 appearances for Seoul E-Land Club with nearly 400 minutes, including 9 matches in K-League 2. He is even leading Seoul E-Land in the number of times he has controlled the ball in the opponent's 1/3 area with 1.1 times per 90 minutes and has had 1 assist.
Besides, Van Toan also ranked 2nd in terms of successful dribbles with 1.3 times per 90 minutes, showing that he is integrating very well in K-League 2, an environment considered a suitable starting point for Vietnamese players.
Van Toan is confidently walking his own path.
In contrast to Van Toan, Cong Phuong has been more reserved and quiet since coming to Japan. However, it can be felt that he is quite satisfied with his new life, which is very different from the extremely luxurious freedom and privacy in Vietnam.
If Quang Hai has been training with the Vietnam national team, the two latest names to join the team are Cong Phuong (returning on June 10) and Van Toan (June 12). Among the trio playing abroad, Van Toan is currently in the best form.
Jokingly, if we only count the Vietnamese national team's attack, Van Toan is temporarily ahead of his close friend Cong Phuong. Let's wait and see how the two "close friends" will compete with each other to score points in the eyes of coach Philippe Troussier.
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