Tien Linh announced that he was selected for the Vietnam national team, Gia Bao still thought he was joking.

Nguyen Tien Linh was the one who informed Khong Minh Gia Bao when the player born in 2000 was called up to the Vietnam national team.

Khong Minh Gia Bao (number 31) is on the Vietnam national team for the first time - Photo: DUC HIEU

On the afternoon of November 16, the Vietnamese team had its first training session in Laos in preparation for the match against the host team in the second leg of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. Here, Khong Minh Gia Bao recounted the story of receiving the news of being called up to the national team in a very coincidental way through his senior Nguyen Tien Linh.

"On November 6, when the whole team was on the way to the airport to go from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Tien Linh informed me that someone from the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) contacted him to ask for his personal information before joining the national team.

At first I thought he was joking, but after receiving a call from a VFF official, I knew that I was really selected for the Vietnam national team. I was very happy and surprised," Khong Minh Gia Bao shared.

Khong Minh Gia Bao is a new recruit for the Vietnam national team in the November training session. He is playing for the Ho Chi Minh City Police Club with Tien Linh.

As a veteran face in the national team, it is not surprising that Tien Linh was the one who knew the information and shared it with Gia Bao in advance.

Khong Minh Gia Bao was born in 2000 in Hanoi, trained at the People's Public Security training center, played for Quang Nam in the 2024 - 2025 season before joining the Ho Chi Minh City Public Security Club in the 2025 - 2026 season.

Gia Bao plays as a central defender. Although he does not have an impressive physique (only 1.75m tall), he has good speed, tracking and tackling ability.

"I admire Tran Dinh Trong and learn a lot about his skills when watching him compete. He is considered an expert at hunting Westerners despite his short stature," Gia Bao said.

As a central defender, Khong Minh Gia Bao had many opportunities to "interact" with Nguyen Xuan Son in recent training sessions of the Vietnamese team. He gave his perspective on the current form of the naturalized striker born in 1997.

"Maybe because he just returned from injury, Xuan Son's performance is not at its best. However, he is still a classy player, proven in V-League and the Vietnam national team," said Gia Bao.

NGOC LE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tien-linh-bao-tin-duoc-len-tuyen-viet-nam-gia-bao-van-tuong-ban-dua-20251116171243083.htm