Doan Van Hau must undergo surgery, missing the 2023 Asian Cup.

Defender Doan Van Hau will travel to Singapore for treatment of a heel injury, which could take up to six months to recover.

Van Hau suffered an injury to the Achilles tendon attachment point in his right foot, requiring three to six months for a full recovery. The last time the defender from Thai Binh province played was in the final round of the second phase of the V-League 2023 on August 27th, helping Hanoi Police (CAHN) draw 1-1 with Thanh Hoa to win the championship. After that, he had a long break, missing the September and October training camps of the Vietnamese national team.

During his injury layoff, Van Hau focused on preparing for his wedding with his girlfriend Doan Hai My on November 11th. Afterwards, he will travel to Singapore for further treatment to fully recover from his injury, with financial support from his club.

Doan Van Hau (in red shirt) playing in Vietnam's 2-3 loss to UAE in the second round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in June 2021. Photo: Lam Thoa

If he only needs three months to recover, Van Hau will miss 11 rounds of matches with CAHN in the V-League. For the national team, he will miss two World Cup 2026 qualifying matches against the Philippines and Iraq in November, and then the Asian Cup in Qatar in January 2024.

In the worst-case scenario, Van Hau faces the possibility of missing at least 22 rounds of the V-League, as well as the entire second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers – which concludes on June 11, 2024.

In the past, Van Hau suffered a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee in September 2020, and the injury recurred during the second round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in June 2021, requiring surgery in South Korea. He officially returned in July 2022 in the sixth round of the V-League.

Doan Van Hau has been considered the best left-back in Vietnam since 2018, so his absence is a major loss for both his club and the national team. During the national team's training camp in November, coach Philippe Troussier had three options for the left-back position: Vo Minh Trong (Binh Duong), Phan Tuan Tai ( Viettel ), and Trieu Viet Hung (Hai Phong).

Doan Van Hau was born in 1999 and grew up in the Hanoi youth academy. In 2017, he joined the Hanoi FC first team, contributing to six championships including the V-League 2018 and 2022, the National Cup 2020 and 2022, and the National Super Cup 2019 and 2021.

In the 2019-2020 season, Van Hau moved to SC Heerenveen – becoming the first Vietnamese player to play for a team in the Dutch national championship – but only made one appearance in injury time in the National Cup. In 2023, he moved to CAHN and immediately won the V-League championship.

At the national team level, Van Hau has been a key factor in all of Vietnam's football successes since 2016, including fourth place in the 2016 U19 Asian Championship, participation in the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup, runner-up in the 2018 U23 Asian Championship, winning the 2018 AFF Cup, winning the gold medal at the 2019 SEA Games, and reaching the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Hieu Luong

Source link