Interruption due to persistent injury
In September 2023, defender Doan Van Hau asked the coaching staff of the Vietnamese national team not to gather due to a heel injury. That was also the beginning of the more than 2-year period of absence from the field for the player born in 1999. It was not until the beginning of 2026 that he reappeared in the V.League before returning to the Vietnamese national team in the gathering at the end of March.
Similar to Van Hau, the last time center-back Tran Dinh Trong played for the Vietnamese national team was in early 2022 under coach Park Hang-seo, when his team defeated the Chinese national team 3-1 in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Injuries from 2018 to 2022 such as patellar fracture, knee cruciate ligament rupture 2 times, scapular cartilage injury... have caused the center-back born in 1997 to leave his peak period.
Although he has returned to play for a while, Dinh Trong can only play football for his managing club, instead of being called up to the Vietnamese national team by Mr. Philippe Troussier or later Kim Sang-sik.
The absence of both for a very long time in the national team brings regret to fans. The success of U23 and the Vietnamese team in the 2017-2022 period is associated with the solid defensive ability of Dinh Trong and Van Hau. They are considered the most classy "hunting" Western defenders that Vietnamese football has ever possessed.
With Dinh Trong, experts assess him as the best center-back, after the generation of Nhu Thanh or Phuoc Tu. This is completely grounded.
At the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, ASIAD 19, ASEAN Cup 2018 or the 2019 Asian Cup finals, his sharp situation reading ability, appearing in the right position, helped Dinh Trong block many opponent's attacks.
If Dinh Trong is the "brain" in the defense, then Van Hau is the "heart" of the Vietnamese team. Good stretching ability, accurate tackles, fierce tackles and no shortage of cunning when colliding create a strong and solid Van Hau on the left flank of national teams.
Expected return
For the past 3-4 years, despite the efforts of generations of coaches to find new solutions, fans still often mention Van Hau or Dinh Trong as a regret.
Currently, that feeling can be replaced by expectations when both meet the criteria of coach Kim Sang-sik, officially reappearing in the Vietnamese national team towards 2 matches against Bangladesh and Malaysia.
For their part, Van Hau and Dinh Trong also have more opportunities to reaffirm themselves.
In fact, the history of Vietnamese football rarely witnesses cases that can shine again after a long period of interruption with the national team. This is both a challenge, but also an hope for this duo to awaken their inherent abilities and values.
From a professional perspective, coach Kim Sang-sik has reason to give Van Hau a chance. Since the beginning of February, this player has played 7 consecutive matches for Hanoi Police, including 6 full-time matches. Concerns about fitness after a long period of injury treatment may be put aside.
In the last 3 matches alone, in the role of left center-back, Doan Van Hau has a total of 39 successful ball recovery times, 14 wins in duels with opponents. The number of aerial duels over opponents also accounts for 50%.
In parallel with his defensive ability, Van Hau also made his mark through crosses, overhead passes or performing powerful long-range shots himself. One of them was a beautiful goal from a distance of 50m into Thanh Hoa's net.
For his part, Dinh Trong does not have outstanding stats like Van Hau. Scores from experts when evaluating this center-back in the past 1 year are at an average to good level.
However, putting Dinh Trong in the center-back system like Van Hau, Bui Hoang Viet Anh or even Duy Manh, Xuan Manh, he can still create cohesion, promote command ability in the role of center-back. This is exactly what coach Kim Sang-sik needs in the process of building and consolidating the 3-4-3 formation for the Vietnamese team.
With the national team having early won tickets to the 2027 Asian Cup finals, Mr. Kim also temporarily relieved a lot of pressure when re-matching with Malaysia. Thanks to that, the Korean coach has more opportunities to test some personnel who are first called up to the national team and two of them are Dinh Trong and Van Hau.
