Quang Hai (No. 19) and the starting lineup of the Vietnam national team. (Source: VFF)

On its homepage, AFC posted a video clip of midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai's masterpiece at the 2019 Asian Cup. It was an exemplary free kick by Hai "son" into the net of the Yemen team, contributing greatly to the 2-0 victory for coach Park Hang Seo and his team against the West Asian team.

This result brought the “Golden Star Warriors” to the round of 16 at the Asian Championship that year. Then came the achievement of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time at the Asian Cup not held on home ground.

AFC wrote: “Nguyen Quang Hai's beautiful free kick sent Vietnam into the round of 16 in 2019. How far will the Golden Star Warriors go at the 2023 Asian Cup?”.

Fox Sports page at that time compared Quang Hai's goal to the free kick style of superstar Lionel Messi.

This can be seen as a spiritual encouragement that AFC gives to midfielder Quang Hai and the Vietnamese team before going to Qatar to compete.

The 2023 Asian Cup finals will be held from January 12 to February 10, 2024. The 24 participating teams will be divided into 6 groups. The top two teams in each group, along with the four best third-placed teams, will advance to the knockout round.

At the 2023 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team is in Group D with strong opponents including Japan, Iraq and Indonesia. Interestingly, Iraq and Indonesia are also the two opponents of coach Philippe Troussier and his team in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.

According to the schedule, the Vietnamese team will play their opening match against Japan (January 14), then Indonesia (January 19) and Iraq (January 24).