Park Hang Seo's favorite player has not yet returned to the field

As previously reported, defender Pham Xuan Manh relapsed his ankle injury in a training session of SLNA Club in May. Although the injury has made positive progress, the Nghe An-born defender is still quite pessimistic about his ability to return to the pitch.

Sharing with the media, Xuan Manh said: "Due to the brokrn fibula, the last time I only exercised weight and abdominal muscles, I didn’t touch the leg so that the bone has time to recover according to the doctor's recommendations. Because my old injury was relapsed, I felt very impatient. Next week I will go to Hanoi to take a film to check the injury."

Xuan Manh had encountered this injury in 2019 and made him have to quit playing for a long time. This persistent injury has made Xuan Manh miss many important tournaments of Vietnam like AFF Cup 2018, Asian Cup 2019.

The recurrence of Xuan Manh injury will make Park Hang-seo headache for the defensive crisis of Vietnam NT. The defender of Song Lam Nghe An is one of the top choices to replace Trong Hoang against Malaysia in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia.

Xuan Manh used to play very well in this position when he replaced Doan Van Hau who suffered an injury at U23 Asian Cup 2018. Xuan Manh's play is also quite similar to Trong Hoang, who are both physical and capable players with a very good grip and especially not afraid of collision.

It is known that if the injury recovers and the bone is completely healed, then Xuan Manh can begin to step into the recovery practice before thinking of returning to the field.