After the Vietnam Football Federation announced the list of 23 U23 Vietnam players participating in ASIAD 20, fans were surprised when there were no names of two quality overseas Vietnamese players, Williams Minh Hoang and Ngo Dang Khoa of Ho Chi Minh City Police Club.
In fact, both players are absent not for professional reasons. At the time VFF sent the preliminary list of 50 players to the ASIAD 20 organizing committee a few months ago, the nationality dossiers of Minh Hoang and Dang Khoa were not yet completed. Therefore, they were not registered to ensure conditions on playing qualifications.
Over the past time, Ho Chi Minh City Police have supported the two players to complete procedures for recognizing Vietnamese citizenship. If they fully meet the requirements, Williams Minh Hoang and Ngo Dang Khoa can play in the V.League 2026-2027 as domestic players. However, this process takes place after the ASIAD list is registered, so they cannot be added to the squad for the Games.
This is a regret for U23 Vietnam, because both played quite impressively last season. Williams Minh Hoang scored 9 goals and had 1 assist, while Dang Khoa contributed 4 goals and 1 assist. Both also contributed to the National Cup 2025-2026 championship of Ho Chi Minh City Police.
Ngo Dang Khoa himself was once called up by coach Kim Sang-sik to the Vietnamese national team to prepare for the ASEAN Cup 2026.
However, in the U23 Vietnam squad participating in this ASIAD, there are still experienced faces such as goalkeeper Cao Van Binh, Minh Phuc, Xuan Bac, Thanh Nhan, Ngoc My or Le Phat, factors who have won the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, won gold medals at SEA Games 33 and bronze medals at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.
According to the plan, U23 Vietnam will gather on September 12 after round 2 of V.League 2026-2027 closes and depart for Japan on September 13. The direct preparation time for ASIAD is quite short, so the coaching staff has proactively built forces through previous training camps.
At ASIAD 20, U23 Vietnam is in Group C with Uzbekistan, Philippines and Kuwait. Coach Dinh Hong Vinh's team will meet Kuwait on September 15, Philippines on September 18 and Uzbekistan on September 22. The top two teams in the group win tickets to the quarterfinals.
