Vietnam Team: Cong Phuong, Tien Linh likely to miss match against Malaysia

The list of Vietnam's national team preparing for the decisive match against Malaysia in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup on June 10 has received special attention from the media and fans. This is the most important training session in 2025, and everyone is waiting to see who coach Kim Sang Sik will call up to the national team.

In addition to the almost certain names such as Nguyen Filip, Dinh Trieu, Duy Manh, Thanh Chung, Viet Anh, Bui Tien Dung, Xuan Manh, Hoang Duc, Quang Hai, Van Vi, Van Toan, Tuan Hai... some stars of Vietnamese football are making coach Kim Sang Sik have to consider.

First is striker Nguyen Tien Linh - who has always been a firm member of the Vietnamese national team for many years. Since receiving the 2024 Vietnam Golden Ball award, the Binh Duong Club striker has lost his form.

Tien Linh lost his form. Photo: SN

Tien Linh's most recent goal was scored in round 14 of the V-League, from a penalty kick. Since then, the striker born in 1997 has continuously "silenced" and played poorly, causing Binh Duong to drop to 9th place on the rankings, currently only 6 points ahead of the bottom team, SHB Da Nang.

Unable to increase the number of goals scored, Tien Linh was caught up by Thanh Hoa 's foreign player Lucas in the race for the V-League 2024/25 Golden Boot (11 goals). With what he is showing, the striker of the Thu team may miss this title in this year's V-League.

Not only was Tien Linh lackluster at the club, he also "disappeared" in the 5-star victory of the Vietnam team against Laos. It is worth mentioning that in this match, the goals were scored by midfielders or defenders.

Tien Linh is a striker who has regularly appeared in the Vietnam national team under many coaches, but this time he is at risk of not being called up. Even if coach Kim Sang Sik calls him up as a favor, the Binh Duong striker will still have difficulty competing for a position in the match against Malaysia.

Que Ngoc Hai lost his place in the Vietnam national team.

Tien Linh's teammate at Binh Duong Club, Que Ngoc Hai, is unlikely to be included in the list of players to join the Vietnam national team by coach Kim Sang Sik. Since before the 2024 ASEAN Cup, the central defender from Nghe An seems to no longer be in the Korean strategist's plans due to his declining performance.

Also in defense, center back Dinh Trong is the name that coach Kim Sang Sik is considering. In addition, overseas Vietnamese player Cao Quang Vinh, if called up, is also questioned about his ability to play in the match against Malaysia. The reason is that this player will have to join the team on June 4 at the earliest because CAHN will make up for the 20th round of V-League with Binh Dinh on June 3.

With only a few days to get acquainted with the Vietnamese team, it would be very risky for coach Kim Sang Sik to use Quang Vinh in the match against Malaysia, not to mention that in the left-back position, Van Vi is at the peak of his form.

Cong Phuong was lackluster in Binh Phuoc's latest match. Photo: TH

On the offensive front, striker Cong Phuong tried very hard in the First Division to revive his chance to return to the Vietnam national team. He had 3 classy free kicks and 1 assist in rounds 17 and 18, but in the match where he needed to perform when coach Kim Sang Sik was directly present (a 0-0 draw against PVF-CAND), the striker born in 1995 was lackluster.

Although the evaluation is a process, it is clear that Cong Phuong's loss of points in this match may make Mr. Kim reconsider before finalizing the list of the Vietnamese team.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/cac-ngoi-sao-de-lo-hen-tran-tuyen-viet-nam-vs-malaysia-2402706.html