U.23 Vietnam starting lineup: Who will replace Thanh Nhan?

Thanh Nhan was the default starter when U.23 Vietnam played the opening match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament, but his serious injury forced coach Kim Sang-sik to make adjustments.

Quoc Viet and Van Khang during the training session of the Vietnam U.23 team at Ba Ria Stadium.

Photo: VFF

Adjusting the U.23 Vietnam attack line

Thanh Nhan once again suffered a serious injury that forced him to miss an important official tournament. This time, it was an ankle ligament injury that forced him to become an early spectator, just 2 days later, the U.23 Vietnam team will play the opening match of the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian tournament.

This unexpected loss will significantly affect the attacking strength of the Vietnam U.23 team because Thanh Nhan is one of the names in the "core" group of coach Kim Sang-sik.

In the first official tournament that Mr. Kim led the Vietnam U.23 team, Thanh Nhan emerged as an almost default position in the attack line when possessing all the factors of talent, desire, experience and ability to create breakthroughs.

Thanh Nhan was energetic in the evening practice session on July 17...

Photo: VFF

... before the pain forced the doctors to carry him off the field.

Photo: VFF

Immediately after receiving the bad news, the coaching staff of the Vietnam U.23 team immediately summoned Van Thuan - voted by VPF as the best young player of V-League 2024 - 2025.

Van Thuan is a versatile player, capable of wide movement but plays in midfield, not close to the goal like Thanh Nhan. In addition, the fact that he was left out of the official list of 23 names by Mr. Kim also raises doubts about whether he can fill the void left by Thanh Nhan.

Opportunity for Quoc Viet and Ngoc My

In the U.23 Vietnam team's attack at this time, not counting Thanh Nhan who is injured, coach Kim Sang-sik currently has 3 strikers with different playing personalities including Dinh Bac, Quoc Viet and new factor Ngoc My.

Quoc Viet will help fans forget Thanh Nhan's absence.

Photo: VFF

Among them, Dinh Bac is the name with enough size and strength to play the center forward position, while Quoc Viet and Ngoc My are good at playing wide balls behind, exploiting the gaps from the edge of the penalty area.

It is no surprise that Quoc Viet is emerging as the most promising striker alongside Dinh Bac - who is recovering his form very quickly. During the previous warm-up period, Quoc Viet was the most active player, continuously scoring goals for the U.23 Vietnam team.

But in a competitive tournament like the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23, Mr. Kim still has a "trump card" named Ngoc My, a young striker who has proven very well in her first year in the V-League and is still a mystery to opponents.

In addition, Mr. Kim can also calculate to put Khuat Van Khang to play as a winger in the 3-4-3 formation, where he played very well at SEA Games 32 as well as for The Cong Viettel Club. At that time, Van Thuan will have the opportunity to play if he can compete in the midfield.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-hinh-xuat-phat-u23-viet-nam-ai-se-da-thay-thanh-nhan-185250718114852025.htm