In the 41st minute at My Dinh Stadium, coach Kim Sang-sik decided to replace Dinh Bac with Nguyen Tai Loc in the context that the Vietnamese team was still deadlocked against the Singapore defense.
Before leaving the field, television images recorded the moment Dinh Bac waved to the technical area as if wanting to ask the coaching staff to continue playing. However, the substitution decision was still maintained.
After leaving the field, the striker born in 2004 clearly showed disappointment. He stepped into the technical area with an unhappy face and reacted when exchanging with coach Kim Sang-sik. However, Dinh Bac then still shook hands and showed respect to the coaching staff.
In nearly 40 minutes of presence on the field, the striker of the Vietnamese team played actively and continuously appeared at the hot spots in the attack. In the 12th minute, he technically handled it before unleashing a shot that went wide of the post. In the 21st minute, Dinh Bac continued to have an opportunity in the penalty area but the volley did not hit the target.
Dinh Bac's substitution at the end of the first half also attracted attention because this striker was one of the most outstanding players in the Vietnamese team's attack in the early stages of the match.
After the match, coach Kim Sang-sik explained his decision at the press conference.
Dinh Bac has not yet done his job well. Tai Loc came on to perform well, had a chance to finish but did not take advantage well. In the near future, we still have many matches with Indonesia and Cambodia. I will try to use both of these players well," the Korean strategist said.
In the end, the Vietnamese team drew 0-0 with Singapore in the third match of Group A of the ASEAN Cup 2026. This result gives coach Kim Sang-sik's team 4 points after 2 matches, temporarily ranked third in Group A before the important match against Indonesia.
