Cong Phuong is among the Vietnamese football players who have played abroad the most times. He has joined clubs in Japan, Korea, and Belgium. Cong Phuong has played for the Vietnamese national team since 2015.
According to statistics from Transfermarkt, Cong Phuong played for the Vietnam national team in 50 matches, scoring 11 goals. The last time he played for the team was at the end of 2023, in a friendly match against Palestine 2-0. Otherwise, he was hardly called up in the last matches under coach Troussier, as well as the first matches under coach Kim Sang-sik.
Entering the 2024-2025 season, Cong Phuong has created great attraction both on and off the field when joining Binh Phuoc team in the First Division. This 29-year-old striker scored 4 goals in the tournament, contributing greatly to helping the home team currently in 2nd place on the rankings.
With that performance, many people hope that Cong Phuong will be called up to the Vietnam national team for the AFF Cup 2024. But in reality, Cong Phuong is not superior to other strikers called up by Mr. Kim Sang-sik. Moreover, the Vietnam national team is not necessarily stronger with this striker's presence.
Tien Linh, Bui Vi Hao, Pham Dinh Bac, Pham Tuan Hai are strikers playing in V.League who have been called up to prepare for AFF Cup 2024. These are all top strikers in Vietnam, with stable performance.
Tien Linh has scored 7 goals in V.League, while Vi Hao is one of the rare bright spots of the Vietnamese team under Mr. Kim Sang-sik recently.
In the striker position, Mr. Kim Sang-sik also called Dinh Thanh Binh and Nguyen Quoc Viet of Phu Dong Ninh Binh. In terms of playing experience, these two strikers have more playing time than Cong Phuong - an important factor for the Korean coach to call up.
Mr. Kim Sang-sik's decision to not call many veterans to the Vietnam national team is part of his plan to change the team's structure, build a new framework, and aim for important tasks in the future.
Above all, Cong Phuong's statistics at the AFF Cup are not too impressive. He has participated in the region's number 1 tournament 3 times, from AFF Cup 2016, 2018, 2020, scoring 5 goals, but only 1 goal in the knockout stage. At the AFF Cup 2022, Cong Phuong was not called up. That was the tournament where the Vietnamese team won the runner-up position.
Of the 11 goals Cong Phuong scored for the Vietnam national team, 6 were scored in the 2017-2019 period. That was also the time when he was in his best form and contributed the most to the team. For more than a year now, this striker has lost his position due to not playing much.
Cong Phuong played well when he returned to Vietnam, scoring goals for Binh Phuoc. That was good for him and the club, but that did not mean he would be the "savior" for the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup.
