On the evening of May 7, Hanoi club announced that midfielder Nguyen Hai Long will be in the ASEAN All-Stars squad against Man United in the friendly match taking place in Malaysia on May 28.
According to Lao Dong, Hai Long will replace midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai. Quang Hai and the Hanoi Police Club are focusing on the two finals of the 2024-2025 Southeast Asian Club Championship against Thailand's Buriram United Club on May 14 and 21.
After that, Quang Hai will join Hanoi Police in the National Cup semi-final against The Cong Viettel on May 26. If they win, the police team will play the final match on May 29 away with the opponent being the winner of the semi-final between Song Lam Nghe An and Binh Duong.
Thus, the 3 Vietnamese players in the ASEAN All-Stars team are Nguyen Hoang Duc, Do Duy Manh and Nguyen Hai Long.
Midfielder Nguyen Hai Long has proven his worth in the Vietnam national team under the leadership of coach Kim Sang-sik. He contributed significantly to the recent 2024 ASEAN Cup championship of the Vietnamese team.
In recent days, a series of players from Southeast Asian countries have had to withdraw from the friendly match with Man United for various reasons.
The absentees include Muhammad Ferrari (Indonesia), Neto Rondon (Cambodia) and Nicolas Mickelson (Thailand). Most notably is the case of Neto Rondon, which has sparked controversy.
According to information from the Football Association of Cambodia, Neto Rondon cannot participate because he is serving a one-match suspension. The Colombian striker received a red card in a recent friendly match between the Cambodian team.
FIFA has confirmed that the penalty will be applied in the friendly match against Man United, forcing Cambodia to replace him with Abdel Coulibaly.
On the Indonesian side, the Indonesian media said that the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) has proactively not called up key players to avoid the risk of injury, because the team still has two important matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan in June.
