Hanoi (VNA) – Three footballersfrom the U23 Vietnam squad made their names in the Asian Games 2018 (ASIAD)team of the tournament, according to FOX Sports Asia.

The star players include central midfielder BuiTien Dung, rightwing defender Vu Van Thanh, and midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai.

According to FOX Sports Asia football editor Gabriel Tan, Thanh continued hisexemplary performance in Indonesia as Vietnam stormed to the semi-finals beforebeing beaten by the Republic of Korea (RoK).

“The 22-year-old looks aperfect fit for coach Park Hang-seo’s 5-2-3 system, bombing forward with intentwhenever he gets the chance but also adept at performing his defensive duties,”Tan said.

Meanwhile, it was Dung that played a crucialrole for his side, keeping five consecutive clean sheets from their openingGroup D clash until they conceded in the semi-finals to the RoK, Tan said.

“Widely regarded as oneof Southeast Asian’s brightest prospects following some brilliant displays asan attacker, Nguyen Quang Hai’s development continued at the Asian Games wherehe was deployed in a traditional central midfield role”, Tan said.

“Quang Hai not onlyadapted well to an unfamiliar role but exceeded the performance of Vietnam’susual midfielder Luong Xuan Truong – however his campaign ended on a sour noteas he missed a costly penalty in the bronze medal playoff against United ArabEmirates,” he added.

The RoK, Japan, andUzbekistan each had two players in the best 11 list while the United ArabEmirates and Malaysia each had one.

With a perfect record of three wins againstNepal, Pakistan and Japan, Vietnam topped Group D to reach the knock-out phase.

They beat Bahrain 1-0 before seeing off Syria inthe quarter-finals to be the last remaining Southeast Asian team in thetournament. 

They suffered a 1-3 defeat to the Republic ofKorea in the semi-finals.

Although the team lost to the UAE 3-4 during atense penalty shootout after drawing 1-1 in official time in the bronze medalmatch, they have been lauded for finishing in the top four for the first time.Their performance was celebrated by fans, with the players and coachesreturning to a hero’s welcome on National Day (September 2).

Vietnam’s journey throughout the competitiongives hope for the team to advance further at the continental level on thepitch.

ASIAD is the world’s second biggest multiplesports event after the Olympics. This year’s edition was held in Jakarta andPalembang of Indonesia from August 18 to September 2, drawing 16,000competitors and officials from 45 countries and territories.

Vietnam sent 352 athletes to the ASIAD 2018. Thecountry bagged a total of four gold, 16 silver, and 18 bronze medals to finish17th in the medal table. 

The four golds were in pencak silat (men’scombat 70-75 kg and 90-95 kg), women’s long jump, and women’s lightweightquadruple sculls. –VNA