U23 center back makes senior 'fearful' but receives endless praise

In the first time coach Kim Sang-sik gave them the opportunity to start for the Vietnam national team, all three U23 players, center back Hieu Minh, midfielder Thanh Nhan and goalkeeper Trung Kien, made a strong impression and performed well in their assigned tasks.

On the evening of October 14, in the 1-0 victory over Nepal in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers at Thong Nhat Stadium, central defender Nguyen Hieu Minh (born in 2004) contributed greatly to the only goal of the match with an aerial attack that caused the opponent to fluster and score an own goal.

The highlight of Hieu Minh (PVF-CAND Club) is his ability to participate in attacks. In the U23 Vietnam shirt, he also scored 2 goals from aerial situations, on the journey to win the U23 Southeast Asia Championship 2025.

In defense, Hieu Minh did a good job replacing his senior Bui Tien Dung, and was somewhat more outstanding with a height of 1.84 m.

Hieu Minh's fierce defense even made vice-captain Hoang Duc "frightened" for a moment. But after the match, coach Kim Sang-sik mentioned Hieu Minh first when praising the U23 players who played in this match.

Hieu Minh's teammate in PVF-CAND's shirt, Nguyen Thanh Nhan (born in 2003), also had a successful first start under coach Kim Sang-sik.

Every time Thanh Nhan has the ball, the Nepal team's defense system seems to be in chaos.

Thanh Nhan debuted for the Vietnam national team under coach Philippe Troussier in November 2023.

In terms of general playing style, Thanh Nhan with her speed and power played the role of pulling the ball up to attack, quickly converting to the final third of the field for the Vietnam team.

Perhaps if the weather hadn't been pouring rain before the match and the pitch had been better, Thanh Nhan would have scored a goal for herself in this match.

This is how Nepal's defender stopped Thanh Nhan in the second half.

Goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien (born in 2003) also played for the Vietnamese national team for the first time.

The goalkeeper of Hoang Anh Gia Lai still maintained his high performance, successfully blocking a situation that caused the Vietnamese team to concede a goal against Nepal in the first leg match at Go Dau Stadium on October 9.

At the post-match press conference, coach Kim Sang-sik praised the performance of all three U23 players who were starting for the first time, and hoped they would improve further in the future.

Source: https://znews.vn/trung-ve-u23-khien-dan-anh-run-so-nhung-duoc-khen-het-loi-post1593843.html