Hai loses captaincy as coach Park plans changes

“I want to make some changes. Que Ngoc Hai will no longer be captain of the national team. I want him to focus on the field more,” Park said.

Although Park hasn’t announced the new choice for captain, he affirmed big changes are coming to the national team.

“There will be players who won’t get called up anymore,” he added.

Hai, 28, is one of Vietnam’s best defenders at the moment. In 2018, he was called up for the AFF Cup. After the team won the tournament, he wore the captain’s armband of the national team in the next big competitions from 2019 to 2021.

In AFF Cup 2020 last month, Hai fulfilled his role and helped the team make it past the group stage without conceding. In the first leg of the semifinals against Thailand that Vietnam lost 0-2, Hai experienced a controversial situation when he kicked the ball into Supachok Sarachat’s face when the latter lay down on the field. He didn’t receive any punishment for the act.

Recently, Hai had parted ways with capital club Viettel FC and returned to his hometown club Song Lam Nghe An.

The national team will return to training for the next World Cup qualifying game against Australia on Jan. 27 and China on Feb. 1. After six consecutive losses, Vietnam are at the bottom of group B.