The Vietnamese team is rushing to complete its structure and tactics for the opening match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against the Philippines at Rizal Memorial Stadium on November 16. Five days later, coach Philippe Troussier and his team will return to My Dinh Stadium to compete with Iraq.
These two matches play a very important role in the team's journey in the World Cup qualifiers. After 6 friendly matches from June until now (3 wins, 3 losses), Coach Troussier has had a comprehensive view of the players' abilities and their ability to adapt to a controlled playing style to make adjustments.
However, there are still aspects that make Coach Troussier hesitant. One of them is the player who will take on the role of team captain.
Hung Dung wears the captain's armband of the Vietnamese team in the match against Palestine
If under coach Park Hang-seo, the team's executive committee would include 1 captain, 2 vice-captains (sometimes plus 1 treasurer to collect fines), coach Troussier chose the Vietnam team's executive committee to include 3 captains, no vice-captain. The group of captains appointed by the "White Witch" includes Que Ngoc Hai, Do Hung Dung and Nguyen Hoang Duc.
The captain's armband will be rotated within this group. Depending on each match, Mr. Troussier will give the captain's role to one of the above players, the criteria for selecting the player has not been revealed by the French strategist.
However, the strange thing is that in the friendly matches in October, although Hoang Duc was in the captain group, he was not given the captain's armband. The captain of the Vietnamese team in the match against China was Ngoc Hai, in the match against Uzbekistan was Bui Hoang Viet Anh, and in the match against Korea was Hung Dung. Viet Anh was not named in the captain group, but was trusted by coach Troussier to wear the captain's armband in 2 of the past 6 matches.
Que Ngoc Hai (number 3) wears the captain's armband in the match against the Chinese team.
But in the match against Uzbekistan, it was Bui Hoang Viet Anh (number 2) who played the role of leader.
The rotation of the captain's armband was applied by Mr. Troussier when he was coaching U.23 Vietnam. Specifically, he appointed Luong Duy Cuong, Quan Van Chuan, Vu Tien Long, Phan Tuan Tai and Vo Hoang Minh Khoa as the team captains, and will rotate the captain's armband for the players in this group.
But then in some matches, the captain's armband belonged to Tran Quang Thinh - a player who was not in the group. Meanwhile, Minh Khoa, although in the group, was not given the armband.
When asked about the captaincy of the U.23 Vietnam team, Coach Troussier shared: "Personally, I have not yet determined the exact concept of who or which player holds the captaincy. I need more time to accurately evaluate the players, especially in terms of leadership and command ability. I consider myself the captain of the U.23 Vietnam team. The players must show themselves to compete for positions and show an impressive performance in my observation."
But that is with the youth team, and in the Vietnam national team, it is quite strange that coach Troussier is still hesitant about the captain role, because he still has good captains under coach Park Hang-seo such as Ngoc Hai or Hung Dung.
Not to mention their form, these are players with seniority in the national team and influence, along with experience and composure to lift team spirit.
As the World Cup qualifiers approach, the captaincy may need to be "planned" for the most deserving person.
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