Hoang Trong Duy Khang, a young factor stepping into the light

Special journey of "morning star"

The 2025 AFC U17 Championship has concluded the group stage, determining the 8 names that will participate in the quarterfinals. These are also the 8 teams that, along with host Qatar, will represent Asia at the 2025 AFC U17 World Cup. Unfortunately, Vietnam U17 could not be named in the group for the World Youth Championship. Or to be more precise, the team was 10 minutes away from the gates of heaven. If not for the goal conceded at that sensitive stage, Vietnam U17 would have even topped Group B to win a ticket to the U17 World Cup. However, it was also the unfortunate goal conceded by UAE U17 that caused coach Roland and his team to fall from the No. 1 position to the bottom of the table, leaving their world dream unfinished.

Interestingly, U17 Vietnam is one of the four rare U17 teams in the group stage of the AFC U17 Championship that remained undefeated. The “Golden Star Young Warriors” are also the only team in the group that had to stop. Uzbekistan, Indonesia and North Korea all continued their journey in the Asian tournament. That said, it is a pity that U17 Vietnam did not advance, after their commendable performances against Japan, Australia and the UAE.

Hoang Trong Duy Khang scored 2 goals for U17 Vietnam at the Asian tournament.

However, looking at these 3 matches, some U17 Vietnam players have shown that they can develop in the near future. Goalkeeper Hoa Xuan Tin, center back Le Huy Viet Anh, striker Tran Gia Bao, midfielder Dau Hong Phong and especially the "tornado on the left wing" Hoang Trong Duy Khang are the names that have shown their abilities at the 2025 U17 Asian Cup.

Among them, Duy Khang is definitely the name that is mentioned the most. He scored 2 out of 3 goals for his team in this tournament. Against U17 Australia, Duy Khang charged up from the right wing, making a daring shot from a narrow angle that left the opposing goalkeeper standing still.

When facing U17 UAE, this player was like an arrow cutting through the wind. From the left wing, he rushed into the penalty area, received a pass from his teammate on the right wing before finishing well to beat the opponent's goalkeeper.

"Little Neymar" from the dreamy land of Hue

Watching Duy Khang equalize for U17 Vietnam against U17 Australia, Coach Pham Minh Duc praised his young colleague Mai Tien Thanh - who guided Duy Khang in the PVF's 2008 generation of players. "That was a very good coordination. Coach Mai Tien Thanh also read the situation of how Khang and Bach would coordinate in the phase leading to the goal. Both players did a good job of coordinating on the sidelines before Khang scored."

From his perspective, as the teacher who guided Duy Khang in the PVF-CAND training center for many years, Coach Mai Tien Thanh happily said: “I have been with Khang from the U12 to U15 groups of PVF-CAND. I am very happy that he has scored 2 goals for U17 Vietnam. Duy Khang is very confident and proficient in handling the ball. This also shows his strongest point, with the ability to dribble skillfully with both feet like Trong Hoang. If he perseveres, Duy Khang will be able to go far.”

Duy Khang was born in 2008 in Hue. There is an interesting detail about Duy Khang. Unlike his teammates at the same time, Khang is not a fan of Messi or Ronaldo. His favorite face is Neymar, the spontaneous star from Brazil. Also inspired by this player, Duy Khang also imitated and learned his playing style.

Before the 2025 AFC U17 Championship, this young man had already made an impression at the 2023 National U15 Championship. In that tournament, this player received a double title, including: Best Player and Top Scorer with 7 goals. In the final match, Duy Khang won U17 SLNA with a score of 5-0, with 1 goal and 1 assist, helping U17 PVF-CAND win the tournament.

From the 7 goals in that tournament, Khang demonstrated a calm, technical, decisive and surprising way of handling the ball. Khang's finishing moves in the goals in the 2023 National U15 Tournament or most recently against U17 Australia and U17 UAE were all observed and calculated by him before finishing, surprising the opponent.

Not possessing an appearance of over 1m80 like Thien Phu or Gia Bao, Duy Khang still found his own place in the attack of the Vietnam U17 team. Behind the goals, Khang showed agility and clever movement. Instead of being passive on the left wing, with encouragement from coach Roland, he continuously put pressure on the opponent with his flexibility in running. At times, Duy Khang changed from a winger to a center forward, with the ability to choose the space and shoot with force. Witnessing Khang play, many experts expect him to be able to "leap" to the level of Vietnam U22 or First Division in the near future. That promises to motivate Duy Khang to progress and mature faster.

4 World Cups await U17 Vietnam

The dream of the 2025 U17 World Cup has ended for U17 Vietnam. But the next 4 World Cups still await the young players of the "Young Warriors of the Golden Star". The U17 World Cup held annually for 5 consecutive years, starting from 2025, will help U17 Vietnam continue their dream of participating in the world tournament.

Specifically, the U17 World Cup 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 are waiting for U17 Vietnam. The number of participating teams will still be maintained at 48. And 8-9 Asian representatives will continue to participate in the world stage, through passing the group stage of U17 Asia in the corresponding years.

Next year, players born in 2009 of Vietnam U17 such as Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc and Nguyen Van Duong are still eligible to participate in the tournament next year. The next task of Vietnam U17 is to continue selecting 15-16 year old players through the National U15 tournament. Based on the Southeast Asian U16 tournament, the Asian U17 qualifiers plus training sessions, Vietnam U17 will take shape to return to the Asian playground, realizing the ambition of winning a ticket to the 2026 U17 World Cup.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/hoang-trong-duy-khang-nhan-to-tre-buoc-ra-anh-sang-i765064/