Vietnam lose Van Vi, Hoang Duc, Duy Manh: Indonesia watch closely before FIFA ASEAN Cup

Ahead of the FIFA ASEAN Cup, Indonesian media have focused attention on Vietnam's injury list. Van Vi, Hoang Duc and Duy Manh are named as significant losses. For coach Kim Sang Sik, their absence forces a rethink of Vietnam's attacking approach. In Vietnam's 3-0 win over Indonesia, Van Vi opened the scoring with a left-side burst, and Hoang Duc provided two assists. Van Vi is often the first outlet in transition, while Hoang Duc makes the final pass that creates chances. Losing both removes two key creative channels that worked well against Indonesia. Duy Manh is described as a defensive pillar, but the original report provided no detailed positional or statistical context, making it hard to measure his exact impact. Indonesian media appear to rely more on emotion than evidence here. Indonesia may see an opportunity. But football does not work by simply adding or subtracting names. A team without stars can still win if its structure holds. Conversely, a full-strength team with no clear replacements can easily struggle. What matters now is Vietnam's supplementary call-ups and how Kim Sang Sik adapts. Based on following Vietnam's recent matches, I believe the team needs a clear Plan B rather than waiting for injured players to recover. The FIFA ASEAN Cup is a short tournament, and squads with depth will have a big advantage. For Vietnam, the core question is not only which players are missing, but who will replace them and how the system will function.