“True gold is not brass/ Don’t test it with fire, it will hurt you”-Yes, the golden generation of Vietnamese football that was built over the past 5 years is basically still here, still the pillars of the V-League clubs. But because football never stands still, because the goals of each period are different, the golden generation must also go through the “test of gold”, must practice to create new quality.

“The bamboo is not yet old but the shoots have already grown” can happily refer to the fact that our current generation of players is quite a large team. Coach Troussier has in hand a large amount of capital in both quantity and quality, both experience and youth. If he has firmly grasped the ability of a young generation that has kept faith in them through the recent Doha Cup and SEA Games 32, then this test will hopefully have positive results to multiply the faith in the veteran players.

Vietnam U22 team. Photo: VIET AN

It is a pity that important players such as Quang Hai and Cong Phuong, who are serving clubs in France and Japan, are not allowed to play. Likewise, striker Tien Linh - the main striker of the national team and Becamex Binh Duong - has not been able to score in the 8 rounds of V-League 2023. There are too many reasons to talk about the poor performance of these players, but what is their actual performance? That is the reason why it is necessary to check the performance and resilience of not only some cases but all players, including those who are playing well.

Unlike coach Park Hang-seo who built the national team on the foundation of the beautiful U.23 youth team that won the Asian runner-up, adding only a few older players, coach Troussier has a majority of players who are at their peak. According to him, the new construction process will increase the number of young players by about 30-40%. Looking towards the 2026 World Cup and further to the 2030 World Cup, bringing more and more young players into the team is inevitable. In the immediate future, the majority and the core will certainly still be the current faces.

It is easy to see that in the defense and midfield, a series of players are still in good form and are trustworthy. Not only that, among them, there are also those who are improving. Van Thanh is versatile in running on the wing and finishing better. Hoang Duc is not only good at controlling the ball and avoiding pressure, but also participating in attacks and scoring goals more effectively. Chau Ngoc Quang and Tuan Anh are also more flexible and sharper than themselves. In the attack, Pham Tuan Hai has recently played well; if Van Toan, Cong Phuong, Tien Linh are not called up or are not really determined to find themselves, it will be very difficult for them to have a starting position. This is what coach Troussier has anticipated. He has clearly shown his intention to use young players, so Nham Manh Dung still has a chance. More importantly, he is targeting the U.23 youth group and younger with hopes such as Van Tung, Quoc Viet, Van Truong, Van Khang, Thanh Nhan...

At the same time, having to be distracted and split up for two friendly matches in June, I don’t know how the “white witch” will handle it. I only know that every member of the national team must try to show themselves to gain trust from the new coach and the public. For them, although they are experienced, now is a new beginning, they must be worthy of their seniors.

THUONG NGUYEN