Teammates carry Thai Son off the field after injury in round 12 of the V-League - Photo: NINH BINH FC
"The injuries to Hieu Minh and other players serve as a warning about the management of young players' physical exertion, the sports medicine system, and the 'try at all costs' culture. Victory must go hand in hand with protecting people," shared Nguyen Trong Thuy, former doctor of the Vietnam U23 team.
Playing too many games
In 2025 alone, the Vietnam U23 team will begin training on November 9th. From November 12th to 18th, the team will participate in the Panda Cup 2025 to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games and the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals.
After the SEA Games 33 concluded on December 19th, the players only rested for three days before rejoining training on November 23rd to prepare for the 2026 U23 Asian Championship. Following six intense matches in the tournament, they returned home and rested for a few days before continuing training with their clubs to prepare for Round 12 of the V-League 2025-2026 last weekend.
The consequences of the continuous and excessive number of matches have resulted in injuries to four Vietnamese U23 players. Van Truong suffered a torn ligament in the final match of the 2025 Panda Cup. Bui Vi Hao's injury recurred before the 2026 AFC U23 Championship. Hieu Minh tore his knee ligament in the quarter-final match against China U23. Thai Son tore his ligament in the 2025-2026 V-League season after returning from Saudi Arabia.
Notably, Thai Son is a key midfielder for both the Vietnam U23 team and his club. His injury while playing for Ninh Binh FC is tragic because there was no collision. After turning to try and keep up with Leo Artur ( Hanoi Police FC)'s dribble, his ligaments tore.
Ninh Binh FC has many star players in their squad. Therefore, the decision to use newcomer Thai Son in the second half caused public outrage, especially since he had just played continuously in the SEA Games 33 and the 2026 U23 Asian Championship.
Injuries caused by overuse or bad luck?
There are differing opinions regarding the causes of injuries to the U23 players. "From the end of the 2026 U23 Asian Championship until the return of V-League Round 12, it's already been half a month, how can that be called overload? It's just bad luck to get injured" - this is one of many opinions from the public suggesting that the players' injuries were due to bad luck.
But for many, especially sports doctors, they believe it's a consequence of overuse. "In many people's minds, injuries are usually associated with a strong collision or an incorrect landing... But in sports medicine, most serious injuries don't start at that moment. They begin long before, silently, gradually, through each training session, each match, each time a player tells themselves 'just a little more,' and that's overuse," shared Dr. Nguyen Trong Thuy.
"We often compare overload to pouring water into a glass. Each training session is a drop. Each match is a drop. Each 'extra push' is a drop. Nobody knows which drop will be the last. When an injury happens, people usually only see the drop that overflows the glass."
"Overloading reduces the dynamic stability of the joint, slows down protective reflexes, and forces ligaments to bear the load instead of muscles. Then, just a change of direction, a twist of the body, or an imperfect landing is enough to cause serious injury," Dr. Nguyen Trong Thuy further explained.
The story of Dinh Trong and Van Hau returning to training and playing early after injuries while they were still players for the Vietnam U23 team is a case in point. Both suffered recurring injuries and required much longer recovery times.
Hieu Minh suffered a serious injury and had to undergo surgery before the 2026 U23 Asian Championship - Photo: TTO
Change is needed.
According to expert Doan Minh Xuong: "Vietnamese football needs achievements, so it focuses on the best young players for youth tournaments that are not part of FIFA Days, leading to young players having to play too many matches and becoming overloaded. But if that's the case, when the U23 players return to their clubs, they need rest to recover after two intense and fierce tournaments. Instead, they have to play in the V-League immediately."
To address this, Mr. Xương stated: "At the club level, players must receive proper nutritional and medical care to build a solid foundation. The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) must discuss with the clubs to gradually adapt to FIFA's competition system. If the goal is to achieve success in youth tournaments, the VFF must discuss with the clubs the importance of players' recovery. If clubs use players immediately after a tournament with the national team, it will lead to overload because the players won't have enough time to recover."
If things don't change, the list of injured U23 Vietnam players could get longer. That would not be good for the next generation of Vietnamese football.
Lucky like Dinh Bac
After winning the first match against U23 Jordan at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship, Dinh Bac suffered a groin muscle strain and had to play through the pain. Despite this, he performed excellently, contributing to Vietnam's third-place finish.
Upon returning to Hanoi Police FC (CAHN), Dinh Bac was given complete rest by coach Alexandre Polking. He was only brought on in the second half of the recent V-League match against Ninh Binh FC in round 12.
Before the 33rd SEA Games, Mr. Polking also allowed Dinh Bac and Minh Phuc to join the Vietnam U23 national team training camp early instead of having them play two matches with CAHN Club in the 2025-2026 Southeast Asian Club Championship.
Coach Polking's approach, through managing the workload, rotating players at the right time, and coordinating with the medical team, helps optimize player utilization.
Dinh Bac was fortunate not to suffer serious injuries - Photo: TTO
3 things that lead to young players being overloaded.
According to Doctor Thuy, young players have three characteristics that make them prone to burnout:
1. Youthfulness masks fatigue. Because they recover faster, they easily confuse "feeling less pain" with "having fully recovered."
2. The muscular system is not yet fully developed. This means the muscles are not strong enough to distribute the load across the joints in high-speed situations or sudden changes of direction.
3. The mentality of not wanting to miss an opportunity. A major tournament can be a turning point in a player's career, so very few young players dare to stop because of a "minor injury".
These three factors combined contribute to development overload, which is very difficult for outsiders to recognize.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/lam-sao-bao-ve-doi-chan-cau-thu-20260204233311586.htm
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