Vietnam national team center back Que Ngoc Hai has a problem with his thigh and will have to rest for about three weeks.
During the training session with Binh Duong before round 6 of V-League, Que Ngoc Hai suffered a 3cm tear in the hamstring of his right thigh. He will definitely miss rounds 7 and 8. If he recovers as expected, this defender will be back in about a week before the Vietnam team plays their opening match of the 2023 Asian Cup against Japan on January 14, 2024.
Que Ngoc Hai (No. 3) in the match where Vietnam lost 0-1 to Japan in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup. Photo: Hieu Luong
Previously, Que Ngoc Hai had suffered a torn right thigh muscle in a friendly match where Vietnam lost 0-2 to China on October 10. The central defender from Nghe An took more than a month to recover before returning to play 66 minutes in the match where Vietnam lost 0-1 to Iraq on November 21, in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. After that, he played all three matches in the V-League, including a make-up match in the first round where he lost 0-1 to Hanoi FC, a 1-1 draw with HAGL in the fourth round, and a 2-0 win over Khanh Hoa in the fifth round.
Que Ngoc Hai is one of five central defenders trusted by coach Philippe Troussier, alongside Do Duy Manh, Nguyen Thanh Binh, Bui Hoang Viet Anh and Phan Tuan Tai. The 30-year-old player is often placed in the center of a five-defender formation.
Que Ngoc Hai is the most experienced player on the current Vietnamese team with 76 matches, only seven matches away from Le Cong Vinh's record. He is also the only player to have an official position under the four most recent coaches: Toshiya Miura, Nguyen Huu Thang, Park Hang-seo and Philippe Troussier. At the 2019 Asian Cup, Que Ngoc Hai was the captain, leading Vietnam to the quarter-finals, where the team lost 0-1 to Japan.
The Vietnam team will gather in Hanoi from December 28, with 35 players. Coach Troussier will then narrow down the list to about 26 players, who will go to Qatar from January 5 to get used to the climate and field and play a friendly match against Kyrgyzstan on January 9.
Vietnam is in Group D, meeting Japan, Indonesia and Iraq on January 14, January 19 and January 24 respectively. The 2023 Asian Cup consists of 24 teams divided into six groups, competing in Qatar from January 12 to February 10, 2024. The teams will compete in a round robin to select the six first-place teams, six second-place teams and four best third-place teams to advance to the round of 16.
Hieu Luong
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