HÀ NỘI — Three Vietnamese players have been named in a group stage ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup squad chosen by a well-known British sports journalist.

John Duerden, who covers Asian football for Fox Sports Asia, picked midfielder Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng, left-back Vũ Văn Thanh and centre-back Quế Ngọc Hải in his team drawn from eight teams contesting the cup.

The team, which has an attacking 4-3-3 formation, was named in an article posted on the Fox Sports website on Monday.

Midfielder Hoàng’s excellent dribble and a late goal to down Malaysia, as well as a masterly performance against an energetic Cambodian team won him a place on the ASEAN team.

Left-back Thanh, specially mentioned by the North Korean head coach after Việt Nam beat the 1966 World Cup quarter-finalists last October, caught Duerden’s eye for rarely being caught out of position despite his forward forays. If his finishing had been a little better, the 20-year-old would’ve been outstanding, he wrote.

Centre-back Hải was “almost perfect in the group stage and his presence in the middle of the defence is a reassuring one that does not rely on aggression or power but an ability to read the game and organise the backline,” Duerden wrote.  

Other players in Duerden’s team are: goalie Hassan Sunny (Singapore), defenders Tristan Do (Thailand) and Zaw Min Tun (Myanmar), midfielders Chanathip Songkrasin (Thailand) and Stefano Lilipaly (Indonesia), and forwards Chan Vathanaka (Cambodia), Boaz Solasso (Indonesia) and Aung Thu (Myanmar).

The website FourFourTwo has listed five players of Việt Nam among the best performers after the group round.

Hải, Hoàng and Thanh are mentioned again, the two others being striker Lê Công Vinh and midfielder Ngô Hoàng Thịnh.

Thịnh did not play in the last match against Cambodia but showed his skills in the other two matches.

Vinh played in all the three games, as Việt Nam recorded its best performance in AFF Cup history. He was at the heart of almost every chance created and his performance will be crucial to the team’s fortunes in the knock-out stages.

His poacher’s goal that opened the scoring against Cambodia has been chosen as one of the top five goals of the group stage by Fox Sports Asia.

Vinh’s two goals also make him the best Vietnamese striker in AFF Cup history. — VNS