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From the time they won the ASEAN Championship at the end of 2018, Vietnam enjoyed a glorious era where they were the dominant force in Southeast Asian football. They were the only team to reach the third and then-final round of Asian qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, won back-to-back Southeast Asian Games gold medals in 2019 and 2021, and even did well on the continental stage with runners-up and fourth-place finishes at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup and Asian Games respectively. In recent times, however, they have been dethroned. At senior regional level, it is Thailand who have reclaimed their place at the top with consecutive triumphs in the past two editions of the ASEAN Championship, while Indonesia are now Southeast Asia's sole remaining representatives in the World Cup qualifiers for the 2026 edition. Vietnam look to be in a state of flux but, if there was ever any doubt over the talent they continue to produce, that might have been answered on Thursday. It was not an international match but a club clash rather. Yet, as Công An Hà Nội picked up a second win on the trot in the ASEAN Club Championship with a 5-0 rout of Singapore's Lion City Sailors, some of their rising talents showed why Vietnamese football could continue to be a forced to be reckoned with. Granted, it was Brazilian forward Léo Artur who emerged as the star of the show -- getting the ball rolling on the half-hour mark before adding two more in the second half -- including a long-range stunner -- for a hat-trick to suggest he can fill the void left by injured compatriot Alan Grafite as the team's main avenue to goal. Still, equally impressive were Nguyễn Đình Bắc and Lê Văn Đô, who marked their first starts of the tournament by also getting on the scoresheet in what was a sheer display of panache by the hosts. It might have been easy to assume CAHN's biggest threat would come in the form of Nguyễn Quang Hải, who has been the crown jewel of Vietnamese football throughout their recent golden era. Instead, while Quang Hải provided a useful pivot in the No. 10 role, it was Đình Bắc and Văn Đô who caused the real problems for the Sailors either side of their captain. While starting out in the wide areas, the duo regularly drifted infield and their constant interchange of positions with Artur and Quang Hải saw the visitors completely bamboozled at times, which then paved the way for fullbacks Vũ Văn Thanh and Jason Pendant to bomb forward in support.  It was one such move that led to Artur's opener -- assisted by the rampaging Văn Thanh -- before Đình Bắc's moment arrived on the hour mark with a powerful drive that was too much of Izwan Mahbud to keep out at the near post. Still only 20, Đình Bắc already has ten caps for the senior national team and displayed his ability on the biggest continental stage of all when he memorably scored against Japan at the AFC Asian Cup earlier this year. A couple of months later, he was expected to be a key figure for Vietnam at the U-23 equivalent. The fact that he was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament after being injured in their opening tie might have been a key reason why they failed to go further than expected. Six minutes later after Đình Bắc's effort, as Izwan failed to adequately deal with a corner he had come off his line to deal with, Văn Đô reacted quickest and -- despite having his back to goal -- managed to cleverly improvise and fire away a snapshot that arrowed unerringly into the far corner. Despite being three years Đình Bắc's senior, Văn Đô has not had as much exposure at senior international level but his talent has been apparent from the time he starred in Vietnam's gold medal-winning campaign at the 2021 SEA Games. With his exquisite delivery and energy down the flanks, he has always shaped as a long-term option at either wingback position although his technical ability also makes him a handy option further up the field -- as he showed for CAHN on Thursday. They will continue to get opportunities under coach Alexandré Pölking, who has proven to be a firm believer in youth throughout his managerial career -- and they will only get better under the German-Brazilian, who previously enjoyed plenty of success in Thailand and is now looking to replicate that on Vietnamese soil. While it was a regional club tie that was headlined by a Brazilian import, Công An Hà Nội's commanding win over the Sailors suggested the future remains bright for Vietnamese football.
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