Laos calls up Vietnamese student goalkeeper to face Malaysia

Thatsaphone Xaiyasone – a final-year student at Thanh Hoa University of Culture, Sports and Tourism, who helped his team win the double championship at the 2025 Vietnam and International Student Youth Football Tournaments – has just been selected for the Laos national team for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

The Laos national team roster for the upcoming two matches against Malaysia in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, recently announced by coach Ha Hyeok Jun, attracted attention when the familiar name of student football fans in Vietnam appeared — goalkeeper Thatsaphone Xaiyasone. He will join Laos in the 3rd and 4th rounds scheduled for October 9 and 14.

Thatsaphone Xaiyasone is currently a fourth-year student at Thanh Hoa University of Culture, Sports and Tourism, where he plays for the team that achieved a historic double victory in both the 2025 Vietnam Student Youth Football and the 2025 International Student Youth Football tournaments. He was honored as the best goalkeeper of the tournament, playing a key role in Thanh Hoa’s historic debut performance.

Notably, Xaiyasone successfully saved 4 penalty kicks, helping his team win all three shootouts against Thuy Loi University (domestic qualifiers), Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry (domestic quarterfinals), and Life University from Cambodia (international semifinals) — all within just one month. Thanks to his outstanding performance, Thanh Hoa University’s team lost only one match throughout both tournaments.

Nguyen Cong Thanh, coach of the Thanh Hoa student team, shared: “We quickly recognized Thatsaphone Xaiyasone’s talent when we saw him playing alongside Lao students at the university. He is tall, has a long reach, good anticipation, and quick reflexes. More importantly, Xaiyasone has great fighting spirit and passion.” He also added that the Lao goalkeeper has a good command of Vietnamese, communicates well, and is very friendly with teammates, even joking that “he’s great at drinking beer.”

Currently, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has not yet penalized Malaysia after the naturalized player scandal, so the “Malayan Tigers” remain top of the group with 6 points from 2 matches. Laos ranks third with 3 points after losing 0-5 to Vietnam and winning 2-1 against Nepal. In this context, goalkeeper Thatsaphone Xaiyasone is expected to shine, proving his journey from student football to the national team — a testament to the talent and effort of a young goalkeeper from Laos.