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AFC recalls Quang Hai's 'old days'

On New Year's Day, AFC recalled memories with contemporary stars of Asian football who grew up at the U.20 level. Among them were Sardar Azmoun (Iran), Omar Abdulrahman (UAE), Takefusa Kubo (Japan) and midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai of Vietnam.

"That was the moment before they became stars of their country's football," AFC commented. Quang Hai, Azmoun, Kubo and Omar all played for the national U.20 team to compete in the U.20 Asian Cup, then used their foundation to rise up.

AFC posted a photo of Quang Hai

AFC reposted images of stars who grew up from the U.20 Asian tournament, one of which is Quang Hai.

9 years ago, Quang Hai played for the U.19 Vietnam team in the 2016 U.19 Asian Cup. Despite being in a difficult group, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team still passed the group stage with an undefeated record (1 win, 2 draws).

In the quarter-finals, Tran Thanh's lightning strike helped Hoang Anh Tuan's team overcome U.19 Bahrain to enter the semi-finals, thereby winning a ticket to the U.20 World Cup 2017. To date, this is still the only time in the history of men's football in the 11-a-side World Cup finals.

Although they did not pass the group stage of the 2017 U.20 World Cup (finishing at the bottom of the group with 1 point), the young generation that participated in the world tournament that year such as Quang Hai, Tan Tai, Tien Dung, Hoang Duc, Van Hau, Dinh Trong, Duc Chinh, Tien Linh... became the core, bringing U.23 Vietnam to the runner-up position of U.23 Asia 2018, then creating a successful era with the Vietnamese team under coach Park Hang-seo.

Quang Hai in the Vietnamese national team jersey

To date, Quang Hai is still the star of the Vietnamese team. He scored 2 goals against Indonesia and Myanmar in the group stage, along with his strong impressions on the journey to win the AFF Cup 2024.

Quang Hai successfully ended the 2024 lunar year with a skillful shot into the net of Kuala Lumpur FC, helping Hanoi Police Club (CAHN Club) win away from home to secure a ticket to the ASEAN Club Championship semi-finals.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/afc-dang-anh-quang-hai-roi-do-kho-kinh-khung-ban-nhan-ra-ngoi-sao-nao-khong-185250201121538127.htm