Vietnam U22s’ captain talisman Nguyen Quang Hai is very likely to be ruled out of the remainder of the men’s football competition at the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games due to a thigh injury.

Hai, a young, talented Vietnamese midfielder who takes the armband for Vietnam U22s at the ongoing SEA Games in the Philippines, was taken to the Manila Doctors Hospital in the Filipino capital city on Wednesday morning for an injury he had sustained during the Vietnam-Singapore clash the night before.

The playmaker was let out in the 22nd minute of his team’s 1-0 victory over the junior Singaporeans following a race against a defender.

Medical imaging shows the 22-year-old Vietnamese suffered a strain on his left back thigh, an injury that often takes footballers up to four weeks to recover.

According to the coaching board of the Vietnamese team, Hai will not be playing their last group-stage match against Thailand at Binan Football Stadium, about 100km from Manila, on Thursday.

Doctors on the Vietnamese team will need to further study the imaging before they can decide if the young skipper needs a long break and be ruled out of the SEA Games campaign.

Vietnam currently maintain a winning streak in Group B with 12 points after four games, followed by Indonesia and Thailand, both on nine, Laos on four, Singapore on one, and Brunei on zero points.

However, the young Golden Dragons have yet to solidify a semifinal berth as a win for Thailand and Indonesia on Thursday night may send them out of the competition.

Therefore, Vietnam U22s will need to play all-in for Thursday’s game, and they will have to do so without their main Hai.

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