Goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung (C) and right wing Nguyen Quang Hai (L) has been picked as two of the best players after the three-week Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung and right wing NguyenQuang Hai of the U23 Vietnam has been picked by sports reporter ScottMcIntyre of Fox Sports Asia, as two of the best players after the three-week Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23Championship in China was over.
The selected players include goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung, right-back Matthew Davies of Malaysia, centre-back Dostonbek Tursumov of Uzbekistan, centre-back GaoZhunyi of China and left-back Seo Young-Jae of theRepublic of Korea; rightwing Nguyen Quang Hai, central midfields Odijion Xamrobekov of Uzbekistan and Akram Atif of Qatar and left wing Wei Shihao of China; and the two forwards – Zabikhillo Urinboev of Uzbekistanand Almoez Ali of Qatar.
Scott McIntyre praised goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung, saying that Dung wasobviously outstanding in the back-to-back penalty shootout wins that sawVietnam in the final.
He also expressed his impression of right wing Nguyen Quang Hai and highlightedthe sublime technical levelof the player.
“Hai showed outstanding mentalityand belief to come up with some massive goals when games were really on theline and with Nguyen Cong Phuong largely isolated up front, almost all of theattacks ran through the brilliant right-sided Hanoi FC man” he said.
Winning the runner-up title,Vietnamese football rose to the 77th place from the 112th in the FIFA rankings,according to Nikkei Asian Review.
What U23 Vietnam did during the tournament wonthe hearts of football fans and earned praise from foreign media.
Fox Sports Asia described efforts of theVietnamese team in the final as the victory of bravery.
The sports website together with many otherinternational media gave positive comments that Vietnamese and ASEAN footballsare able to join bigger tournaments.
Impressed by U23 Vietnam’s performance in thematch with Uzbekistan, Fox Sport reporter John Duerden said that regardless ofthe outcome, the team were successful and 2018 will be a big year for ASEANfootball.
On its homepage, the AFC highlighted that theVietnamese footballers have lighted up the dream of tens of millions ofVietnamese fans and written a new page in the history of Vietnamesefootball.-VNA
VNA
