Cong Phuong's efforts to replace Xuan Son immediately met with trouble, Thai newspaper targets Vietnam team?

Coach Kim Sang-sik is urgently looking for a striker to replace Xuan Son in the national team and Cong Phuong is one of the factors that is being noticed. However, this guy has just suffered a strange injury.

After winning the 2024 ASEAN Cup with the Vietnamese team, Nguyen Xuan Son suffered a serious injury and is expected to need more than 8 months to return to competition. This is a huge loss for the "golden star warriors" in the context of the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup very close.

At this time, coach Kim Sang-sik is urgently looking for a solution to fill the void left by Xuan Son and Cong Phuong is likely to be one of the factors that is being noticed. The former striker of Hoang Anh Gia Lai has just scored a goal against his old team in the National Cup, although it is not enough to help Truong Tuoi Binh Phuoc continue, this is still enough for the "captain" of the Vietnamese team to pay attention.

It is known that since joining Binh Phuoc, Cong Phuong has scored 6 goals and with the scarcity of native attacking talent in V.League, this striker will be the perfect piece for the national team in the 3rd qualifying round of the Asian Cup. Not to mention, he is also considered a striker who coordinates very well with Quang Hai, Tien Linh and other teammates due to many years of "eating national team food".

In the context of Vi Hao and Dinh Thanh Binh playing very "enthusiastically" but not finishing effectively, Cong Phuong's chance to return is considered quite bright. In the coming time, coach Kim Sang-sik and his colleagues will travel to the V-League and the National Cup. If he continues to maintain his current impressive scoring form, the Binh Phuoc striker will likely be called up to participate in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, the first match of which will be next March.

However, when the opportunity just flashed for Cong Phuong, in the 1-1 draw with Dong Nai in round 6 of the national first division in the 2024/2025 season, the male player suffered an inexplicable injury. Specifically, in the 24th minute, while accelerating, Cong Phuong suddenly stopped even though he did not collide with anyone. The player born in 1995 immediately signaled for a substitution and left the field, forcing coach Nguyen Anh Duc to replace Huu Khoi.

It is worth mentioning that the competition schedule in the national cup and the national first division of Binh Phuoc Club is not too dense. A week ago, Binh Phuoc visited Pleiku Stadium and then played at home against Dong Nai. Therefore, Cong Phuong's sudden self-injury made fans extremely worried. Currently, there is still no specific information about the condition of the striker born in 1995.

In another development, Xuan Son's shining performance in the final matches of the AFF Cup 2024 has made the Thai media pay special attention to naturalized players who can play for the Vietnamese national team. According to their list, there are currently 9 players who are likely to be naturalized and play for the Vietnamese national team in the near future:

Center back Kenneth Schmidt (Freiburg, 22 years old), Kyle Colonna (Hanoi FC, 25 years old), defender Jason Quang Vinh Pendant (CAHN Club, 27 years old), Tyler James Thai Crawford (Vancouver FC, 20 years old), midfielder Hendrio Araujo Da Silva (Nam Dinh, 30 years old), Pierre Lamothe (Hanoi FC, 27 years old), striker Geovane Magno (Hong Linh Ha Tinh, 30 years old), Geoffray Durbant (Fujairah, 32 years old) and Kaelin Nguyen (Wellington Olympic, 21 years old).

Among them, Hendrio and Geovane Magno are from Brazil, similar to Nguyen Xuan Son. The remaining 7 names are all of Vietnamese origin, similar to Dang Van Lam and Filip Nguyen. Thai press is concerned that the group of naturalized players will significantly increase the strength of the Vietnamese team in the near future and limit Thailand's chances of regaining the AFF Cup title.

Talking about using naturalized players for the Vietnam national team, VFF Vice President Tran Anh Tu frankly said: "The Vietnam national team is always open to naturalized players, but the important thing is that youth training must still be put first.

Indonesia's massive naturalization has created a loophole, creating a negative effect on domestic players. There is a reason why Indonesia could not call up its previous key players in the recent AFF Cup. Looking at Indonesia, we can learn from experience, everything is at a reasonable level. The whole world focuses on youth training and Vietnamese football cannot be different."

Xuan Son's "brother" caught the eye of coach Kim, about to join Quang Hai's friend in the national team? Bình Minh16:54:09 10/01/2025Coach Kim Sang-sik has just revealed that after Xuan Son, some other stars who are about to be naturalized will also have the opportunity to play for the national team. Notable players include Hendrio Araujo Dasilva and Jason Quang Vinh.