Midfielder Nguyen Van Truong is one of the bright stars of U23 Vietnam at the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 tournament.

But in the match against U23 Philippines in the final match of the group stage, Van Truong retaliated against his opponent after being tackled.

After this aggressive tackle, the 2003-born star received a yellow card and outside the field, coach Hoang Anh Tuan also appeared very angry with his student.

In the post-match press conference, the coach from Khanh Hoa said: “I told the referee that I wanted to replace him immediately. This is football, not fighting.”

Afterwards, coach Hoang Anh Tuan said he reminded Van Truong and everything was resolved satisfactorily.

But in the semi-finals of the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 tournament, Van Truong was unexpectedly benched and only entered the field for the last 13 minutes of the match.

Even in the final match, the star player of Hanoi FC did not play a single minute.

After the tournament in Thailand, many U23 Vietnam players were called up to participate in the 2024 U23 Asian qualifiers. However, Van Truong was not named.

But this is also understandable because the U23 team led by coach Troussier is mostly made up of experienced and "old" players.

Recently, coach Hoang Anh Tuan announced the list of 24 players preparing for ASIAD 19, including 18 names from the U20 group. However, midfielder Nguyen Van Truong is still ignored.

Faced with this "mysterious disappearance", many people have questioned whether the 20-year-old player has received a "hidden punishment" from the U23 Vietnam coaching staff?

However, some sources said that he was in Hanoi FC's plan to use him for the AFC Champions League at the end of September, so he was absent from ASIAD 19.

The player from Hung Yen emerged from the 2022 AFC U23 Championship. Since then, he has always been the first choice in the Vietnam U20 and U23 teams.