Vietnamese defender one of eight players to watch at AFC

The 18-year-old player of Hanoi FC competed in the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore in August. He won the best young player award for the Southeast Asian region last year.

The Thai Binh-born Hau is the only player on this list who has already played at an AFC U-19 Championship. He competed for Vietnam in the AFC event in Bahrain last year.

Hau scored a decisive goal for Vietnam during overtime, bringing home a 2-1 victory against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He also competed in the match with United Arab Emirates in which Vietnam tied 1-1.

After sitting out the last qualifying match with Iraq, Hau returned in the match with Bahrain in the quarter-final and Japan in the semi-final.

Besides Hau, the website also listed Hanis Saghara Putra of Indonesia, Mohammed Dawood of Iraq, Hiroki Abe of Japan and Arshad Al Alawi of Oman.

A total of 43 teams from across Asia will participate in the qualifiers, with 10 group winners and the five strongest group runner-up teams advancing to the finals along with the hosts, Indonesia.

The event’s qualifying stage is scheduled to take place from October 31 to November 8.

Vietnam are in Group H alongside Macau, Laos and Chinese Taipei. This group will take place in Macau.

As scheduled, Vietnam will meet Macau in the opening match on November 4.