Coach Henrique Calisto suddenly allowed Vietnam’s top striker Cong Vinh to leave the squad, even though Vinh had expressed enthusiasm about the friendly match against the Kuwaiti national team on May 31.

From the right: coach Henrique Calisto and striker Cong Vinh.

Calisto resolutely called on Cong Vinh for the match against Olympiakos on May 14 though Vinh wanted to withdraw from the national team to serve his club, T&T Hanoi, during its difficult period.

After that match, Calisto suggested Vinh take a rest by not joining the team for the match against Kuwait. However, Cong Vinh said he wished to play in that match.

In the first practice, Vinh suddenly changed his mind. He asked Calisto to strike his name from the list. Calisto agreed and allowed Vinh to return to T&T Hanoi.

“T&T Hanoi is facing many difficulties in V-League. Cong Vinh is under great pressure with his club. I want to do something to help him and his team. Moreover, I promised Vinh I’d let him take a rest in the match against Kuwait and now I am realising my promise,” Calisto said.

“This is the first reason for my decision to leave my best striker at home. However, the absence of Vinh will be an opportunity for others. This time I have two new strikers, Huynh Kesley and Anh Duc. I will try to find good strikers for Vietnam,” he added.

“It is very difficult to withdraw from the national squad. My club is facing many difficulties at V-League and they asked me to focus my total power on the upcoming round so I had to make this decision. The Vietnamese team is a good one and I believe that without me, they will still play well,” Cong Vinh explained.

Cong Vinh is the third to leave the team after halfback Minh Chau, who is suffering from an injury, and halfback Ngoc Anh, who is busy with his high-school final exams.

In the first practice on May 20, Calisto had only 16 players. Five from Binh Duong club will join the team on May 23.

The squad will practice at My Dinh stadium in Hanoi until May 28 and then go to Kuwait with 20 players.

The list of players called up for the match against Kuwait:

Goalkeepers: Dau Ngoc Tan (Military Zone 4 Club), Tan Truong (Dong Thap), Dinh Hoang La (Ninh Binh)

Fullbacks: Phuoc Tu (The Cong), Minh Duc (Hai Phong), Viet Cuong (Hoang Anh Gia Lai), Tran Van Hoc (Da Nang), Dinh Luat (Military Zone 4 Club), Nhu Thanh, Quang Thanh (Binh Duong)

Halfbacks: Trong Quang (Song Lam Nghe An), Thanh Hung (Da Nang), Vu Anh Tuan (Dong Thap), Dinh Hoang Max (Ninh Binh), Thai Duong, Tran Duy Quang (Hoang Anh Gia Lai), Tan Tai (Khanh Hoa), Vu Phong (Binh Duong)

Strikers: Viet Thang (Dong Tam), Quang Hai (Khanh Hoa), Thanh Binh (Hoang Anh Gia Lai), Huynh Kesley, Anh Duc (Binh Duong)

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