Opportunity for Tran Thanh Trung to attend SEA Games 33?

Nguyen Van Truong's injury could open up an opportunity for overseas Vietnamese player Tran Thanh Trung to join the Vietnam U22 team for the 33rd SEA Games.

Van Truong is the key central midfielder and captain of U22 Vietnam in 2025 - Photo: TTO

In the match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Korea at the Panda Cup 2025 on the afternoon of November 18, midfielder Nguyen Van Truong unfortunately suffered an injury and had to be hospitalized. He left the field on a stretcher in the 70th minute, with damaged ligaments and tibial plateau in his knee.

If Van Truong misses the SEA Games

Although fortunately he did not need surgery, the question is whether Van Truong will recover in time to participate in the 33rd SEA Games. This is because the time for U22 Vietnam from now until the opening match of the group stage against U22 Laos is only 2 weeks.

The training session in Vung Tau from November 23 to 29 will be the time for Van Truong and U22 Vietnam to find the answer. If he recovers in time, this will be good news for U22 Vietnam because Van Truong is an important player and has a great influence in the team's midfield.

Van Truong also participated in most of the matches of U22 Vietnam this year under coach Kim Sang Sik. He is the captain of the 2025 Southeast Asian championship generation and won a ticket to the 2026 U23 Asia.

If Van Truong cannot return in time, U22 Vietnam will suffer a great loss when losing an experienced player, who won the bronze medal at the 32nd SEA Games under coach Philippe Troussier and won the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 championship under coach Hoang Anh Tuan.

With the current level of Van Truong's injury, specifically damage to the tibial plateau, tendons, and medial and lateral ligaments, Coach Kim Sang Sik needs to prepare for the worst case scenario that his favorite student cannot recover in time. He will have to recalculate the personnel and find someone to supplement and replace him.

Tran Thanh Trung (right) has been on the U22 Vietnam team many times but has not had the chance to compete - Photo: NGOC LE

Opportunity comes to Tran Thanh Trung?

The U22 Vietnam midfield is inherently crowded with many quality central midfielders, as shown through many recent training sessions.

In addition to the players currently present in the squad for the Panda Cup 2025 such as Nguyen Xuan Bac, Nguyen Thai Quoc Cuong, Le Van Thuan, Nguyen Cong Phuong, Nguyen Thai Son, there are also many other players with V-League qualifications but were not called up.

We can mention Dinh Xuan Tien, Nguyen Van Tu, Nguyen Quang Vinh, Nguyen Thanh Dat or overseas Vietnamese player Tran Thanh Trung. All of them have been to U22 Vietnam, except Thanh Dat, they are all playing for clubs in V-League. Some are pillars, some are substitutes but when they enter the field, they score or create.

Tran Thanh Trung is a special player. He was once a member of the Bulgarian youth team and won a starting position in the Bulgarian National Championship. He was also considered a prodigy of Bulgarian football before returning to Vietnam.

Before Panda Cup 2025, Thanh Trung was called up to U22 Vietnam twice by coach Kim Sang Sik but has not had the opportunity to play any official matches.

The first time was in the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers in September, Thanh Trung was removed from the team because he was not in good physical condition. The second time, when he joined the U22 Vietnam team to train in Qatar in October, Thanh Trung only played friendly matches.

A shin injury sustained in the V-League right before the U22 Vietnam team gathered in November prevented Tran Thanh Trung from being called up by coach Kim Sang Sik to join the U22 Vietnam team to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games, even though he had been on the preliminary list. But now this Vietnamese-American player has fully recovered and is ready to give his best performance.

Will Thanh Trung be called up to join the U22 Vietnam team in the final training session in Vung Tau from November 23 to 29?

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NGOC LE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-hoi-cho-tran-thanh-trung-du-sea-games-33-20251119092513387.htm