New beginning, last chance

Not being used much under coach Park Hang Seo, Nguyen Van Quyet missed the most brilliant period of the Vietnamese team. Having had a fulfilling career at the club level, the player born in 1992 has yet to make a worthy mark in the national team. At the age of 32, the door to the Vietnamese team opens once again - perhaps for the last time - for this striker.

Unfulfilled career

It is undeniable that Van Quyet is one of the most outstanding and stable players of Vietnamese football in recent years. The striker born in 1991 is almost always absent from any individual title race. In the last 5 Vietnamese Golden Ball elections, Van Quyet won 2 times.

Van Quyet may be hated for non-professional stories. However, there is no convincing reason to lower the ability of this player.

Van Quyet is still the best domestic player in V-League even though he is 32 years old.

Since V-League 2019, Van Quyet's total goals and assists in the season have never been below 2 digits. Only 2 other domestic players have done so: Nguyen Van Toan and Nguyen Hoang Duc.

Van Quyet's career at the club level up to now is complete with all the titles of V-League championship, National Cup, Super Cup. In all the glorious achievements of Hanoi FC, Van Quyet always plays the leading role.

However, this star's career is not complete. He has not really stood out in the national team. That is probably the only thing that Van Quyet still lacks.

The player's biggest title with the Vietnamese team is the 2018 AFF Cup championship. However, that was a tournament in which Van Quyet only started 2 matches in the group stage. Since the semi-finals, he has not been used.

Van Quyet has not had any luck with the national team.

Van Quyet is not being used much under coach Park Hang Seo. The Korean coach did not include Van Quyet's name in the list of players participating in any official tournaments (including international friendlies) until the AFF Cup 2022.

Every time Mr. Park announced the list, the press asked the question "Why is Van Quyet not here?". The Korean coach did not answer directly, but he hinted that the Hanoi FC player was not suitable for the strategy.

This answer seems reasonable. Van Quyet's strength is his ability to keep the ball. He showed his ability at Hanoi FC - a rare team in the V-League that plays football with a focus on control. The Vietnamese team under coach Park Hang Seo plays defensively, attacks with quick transitions and is not strong in controlling and dominating opponents.

Attacking players must ensure the ability to break through and move quickly over a distance of 40-50 meters or more. Mobility, quick problem-solving and speed are the priority factors. Mr. Park has more suitable options than Van Quyet.

However, when coach Troussier arrived and brought a completely different football philosophy, opportunities opened up for Van Quyet.

New beginning for Van Quyet

Under coach Troussier, fans can expect a clearer mark from Van Quyet. Mr. Troussier needs attacking players who can hold the ball and handle it well. In this regard, not many players do better than Van Quyet. Unfortunately, this striker missed 2 friendly matches in June due to non-professional reasons.

Coach Troussier is building the Vietnamese team towards the goal of the 2026 World Cup. Does that plan have room for Van Quyet - a player over 30 years old?

Van Quyet is facing the last chance to make his mark on the Vietnamese team.

At least at the moment, Van Quyet shows that he is still capable of playing at his peak. In a season where Hanoi FC can hardly rely on foreign players, Do Hung Dung is in decline, Quang Hai and Van Hau are no longer in the team, Van Quyet's role is even more evident.

The 2023 season ended, Van Quyet was the domestic player with the most goals in V-League 2023 with 9 goals. His achievement of 9 assists was also the most in the tournament. Notably, Van Quyet set this record in the context of being banned from playing 8 matches (including 7 matches in V-League). If not for this penalty, the captain of Hanoi FC would have deserved to be nominated, even dominating the vote for the best player of the season.

The captain of Hanoi FC is probably still useful, or at least worthy of being tested by Coach Troussier. In addition to the long-term goal, the French coach also has short-term fronts to aim for, such as the World Cup qualifiers taking place this year, or the Asian Cup and AFF Cup next year.

This period will probably be Van Quyet's last chance to make a real mark on the national team. First, he needs to pass Mr. Troussier's tests of adaptability and suitability - something he failed to achieve when working with Mr. Park Hang Seo.

Van Hai - Minh Anh

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