After the professional monitoring and evaluation process of the medical team, the coaching staff of the Vietnamese national team decided to create conditions for center-back Do Duy Manh to return to the club to continue treatment for his injury. Due to needing more time to fully recover, Duy Manh will not be able to participate with the national team in the ASEAN Cup 2026.
According to the assessment of the medical department, continuing to train and play at the present time may affect Duy Manh's recovery process. In the spirit of putting the health and long-term career of the player first, coach Kim Sang-sik and the coaching staff agreed to let the central defender of Hanoi club return to continue treatment, and at the same time did not register him in the list to participate in the ASEAN Cup 2026.
Head coach Kim Sang-sik directly met and encouraged Do Duy Manh before saying goodbye to the team. The Korean coach spent time exchanging and encouraging his students to focus on treatment to recover completely soon, thereby returning strongly in the Vietnamese national team jersey in the next training sessions.
Duy Manh suffered a recurrence of a knee injury before joining the national team. Throughout the time of gathering to prepare for the ASEAN Cup 2026, Do Duy Manh always showed professionalism and effort in the recovery process. In the last days of the training trip in Korea, the center-back of Hanoi Club was able to return to practice with the ball under the guidance of the medical team. However, professional assessment results show that he still needs more time to reach the best physical condition before returning to play.
After the absence of Do Duy Manh and before that Le Ngoc Bao, coach Kim Sang-sik may consider calling up additional forces to ensure the number of Vietnamese national team players participating in ASEAN Cup 2026.
