Tien Linh faces the risk of losing his place in the Vietnamese national team

Nguyen Tien Linh easily became the focus of criticism in the disappointing loss of the Vietnamese team due to his red card. The top scorer of the 2022 AFF Cup was brought on in the 79th minute to increase the attacking power of the home team in the context of being 0-1 down, but his inexplicable foul play put the Vietnamese team in a more difficult situation.

That was an ugly moment for the striker born in 1997. However, the ugly and beautiful story of that elbow is just a small detail in the gloomy picture of Tien Linh in the Vietnam national team. Before the unforgettable moment at the Dalian Sports Center Stadium, the current Silver Ball of Vietnam had only played for 6 minutes under coach Philippe Troussier!

The start of the Vietnam national team's main striker under the new coach was not smooth. Coach Troussier started to build the squad at the right time when Tien Linh hit rock bottom. He only scored 3 goals in V-League 2023.

This striker was also unlucky. During the first training session of the Vietnamese national team (June 2023), Tien Linh was injured. He was only present with the national team mainly for rehabilitation training and was not registered to play in the two friendly matches against Hong Kong (China) and Syria.

Coach Troussier continued to call Tien Linh for the September training session. When he was completely healthy, Tien Linh did not play a single minute in the match against Palestine. This was the match in which Mr. Troussier lost 2 substitutions because Trieu Viet Hung and Pham Trung Hieu were injured.

In the match against the Chinese team, Tien Linh was still on the bench and it was not until the 79th minute that he was brought onto the field - the first time he was used under coach Troussier. However, the striker born in 1997 had a debut performance under his new coach that could not have been worse.

In the 89th minute, after reviewing the video, the referee decided to cancel the yellow card and show a red card to send Nguyen Tien Linh off the field. The Vietnamese striker swung his elbow into the face of defender Jiang Guangtai (China) during a tackle. Before the collision occurred, Tien Linh was clearly at a disadvantage in the dispute with the Chinese player.

The main striker of the Vietnamese team under coach Park Hang Seo only played for 6 minutes, plus 3 minutes of scuffles with opposing players and waiting for the referee to review the video, making less than 10 minutes on the field. He did not leave any mark in terms of expertise. If coach Troussier wanted to test Tien Linh - the best option in terms of reputation in the attack - then this was a failed experiment because the French coach did not get any information.

In a match where the Vietnamese team did not perform well, Tien Linh’s red card became even more blameworthy in the eyes of the audience. If the red card came in a situation that required a tactical foul, or it was an unintentional foul that caused injury to the opponent, the player would also need to receive sympathy from the fans. However, that was a very clear case of foul play and completely unnecessary.

Of course, that foul play did not directly put Tien Linh at risk of losing his place in the Vietnam national team. The red card is harmful in that the player who is sent off cannot play in the next friendly match of the same level. In this case, Tien Linh is banned from playing in the match against Korea on October 17.

That is what threatens the 26-year-old striker's position in the Vietnam national team. Coach Troussier and his team will enter the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the November series. There is no more time for experimentation and Tien Linh only has one closed match against Uzbekistan to show his ability.

Tien Linh was predicted from the beginning to be one of the players who might have difficulty in securing a place in Coach Troussier's squad. The French coach once mentioned that he wanted strikers with the ability to handle the ball, while this was Tien Linh's weakness. He is the type of striker who only does well when placed in a position to finish and is effective near the penalty area. When asked to participate in coordination and contribute to the game, Tien Linh showed his limitations.

Tien Linh's strengths can be useful for the Vietnamese team in many situations. With his form at the AFF Cup 2022, the goals are enough to make up for this striker's weaknesses. However, the problem is that he has to show that he can do that at the present time. The regrettable and worrying thing is that Tien Linh is not having the opportunity to show it, both for subjective and objective reasons.

The French coach affirmed that he will not give up what he is pursuing with the Vietnamese team. Reality shows that Coach Troussier is not just talking. He is willing to cross out some pillars who were once considered "irreplaceable" such as Van Thanh, Thanh Chung, Duy Manh and now Cong Phuong. Nguyen Tien Linh is not out of the above vortex.

Coach Troussier commented on his players' performance: "In international matches like this, players have to try their best to show their ability, as much as possible. Today, they may make mistakes. But, I hope they will stand up and correct their mistakes tomorrow because no one can be perfect in every match.".

Tien Linh only has one match with Uzbekistan to convince coach Troussier.