Khuất Văn Khang is one of the stars to watch at the AFF Cup. — Photo thanhnien.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese attacking midfielder Khuất Văn Khang has been voted by the organisers of the AFF Cup as one of the top five young players to watch at the tournament.

Khang is the youngest member of the Vietnamese squad of 25 players announced by coach Park Hang Seo.

“The youngest player on this list at just 19 years of age, Khang is pushing hard to get a spot in Việt Nam’s squad under a coach that tends to prefer going with more experienced options,” the affmitsubishielectriccup.com said.

“If there is a nod to the future though then this hugely talented attacking midfielder/forward could well be in line to make a real name for himself at the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup.

“Regarded as the most promising of the next crop of Vietnamese youngsters, the left-footer is very much in the mould of a young Nguyễn Quang Hải and will be looking to showcase his fine close control, passing and crossing should he make the final cut.”

Khang has made great progress in recent times, he also played quite impressively in the second phase of the V.League 1 2022 for Viettel and is expected to shine at the AFF Cup 2022, SEA Games 32 and V.League 1 2023.

At the age of 10, Khang was recruited to train at Viettel, one of the national best football centres. Khang grew strongly, and his talent was sharpened.

In 2018, Khang was the MVP of the National U15 Championship. He impressed all coaches with his left foot compilation and 100m sprint in only 11.2 seconds.

After that, he was upgraded to Viettel’s U19 squad competing in the national championship and then named in the national U16 squad, which was considered a big jump for the teenager. His first impressive mark at the national level was at the AFC U16 Championship in the same year.

Khang was the key player of the U19 Vietnamese squad in Indonesia’s regional championship this year.

In addition to Khang, the AFF Cup’s organising committee also named four other players: Witan Sulaeman of Indonesia, Ilhan Fandi of Singapore, Sieng Chanthea of Cambodia and Mukhairi Ajmal of Malaysia. These are the formidable opponents of the Southeast Asian teams in this year's tournament.

The AFF Cup 2022 is scheduled to run between December 23 and January 16.

Khuất Văn Khang in a training session with coach Park Hang – seo ahead of the AFF Cup 2022. Photo toquoc.vn

Việt Nam has been placed into Group B, with games against Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, and Laos. 

In the first match of the tournament, Việt Nam will meet Laos at the New Laos National Stadium at 7.30pm on December 21. The stadium was built in 2009 and has a capacity of 24,000 seats.

Ticket prices for the upcoming match range between LAK30,000 to LAK50,000, equal to between VNĐ41,000 and VNĐ68,000, respectively.

Fans can purchase tickets at the headquarters of the Laos Football Federation and at the New Laos National Stadium.

Following the match with Laos, Việt Nam will then play another away match against Singapore on December 30 before playing at home against Malaysia on December 27 and Myanmar on January 3, 2023. — VNS