Bola Sport compares Tien Linh to the nightmare of the Indonesian team.

Tien Linh once scored four goals against the national team and U23 Indonesia.

Nguyen Tien Linh (right) celebrates his goal against Indonesia, in Vietnam’s 2-0 victory over Indonesia in the second leg of the AFF Cup 2022 semi-finals. Photo: Hieu Luong

Due to injury, Tien Linh did not join Vietnam at the 2023 Asian Cup, where the team lost 0-1 to Indonesia.

Coach Philippe Troussier called six strikers for two matches against Indonesia on March 21 and March 26, including Tien Linh, Dinh Bac, Van Toan, Cong Phuong, Van Tung and Nham Manh Dung.

Vietnam 2-0 Indonesia

Tien Linh’s double helped Vietnam win 2-0 against Indonesia in the second leg of the AFF Cup 2022 semi-finals.

Before joining the team, Tien Linh also showed good performance at the club level, with a double in Binh Duong’s 3-2 victory over SLNA in round 13 of V-League 2023-2024, thereby reaching the 60th mark.

In the national team, Tien Linh is the player with the most goals on the team list this time, with 18 goals through 43 matches – an average of 0.42 goals/match.

Because Binh Duong has to play the 1/8 round of the National Cup at Long An Stadium tomorrow, March 13, Tien Linh will join the team one day late.

The Vietnamese team will gather in Hanoi from March 13 and have six days of preparation before leaving for Indonesia to play the host team at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, March 21.

Vietnam is currently ranked second in Group F of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup – Asia, two points ahead of Indonesia.