Touching poem of Nghe An mother sent to her son at SLNA

The story begins with the 2014 Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament - a traditional tournament for Nghe An children every summer. That year, Nhi Dong Nam Dan - a team that does not have a rich tradition in the tournament, but in the squad appeared a special young player, that is Dinh Xuan Tien, born in 2003.

Throughout the tournament, Dinh Xuan Tien single-handedly “carried” the whole team, scoring 8 goals to help his team win the championship. With that impressive performance, Dinh Xuan Tien became the “Top scorer”, the best player of the tournament and immediately caught the eye of SLNA scouts.

The person who recognized Dinh Xuan Tien’s talent was none other than coach Le Ky Phuong – a teacher with the most seniority and achievements of SLNA. However, Dinh Xuan Tien’s journey to football was much more special than other children.

Young player Dinh Xuan Tien (in blue shirt) when he was playing for Nam Dan Children's School. Photo courtesy

Innocently following his passion, Dinh Xuan Tien packed his bags and went to Vinh and practiced for a few sessions. He was highly appreciated, but at the age of eating and growing up, he cried a lot and then went home because he missed his mother. Over the phone, he could not say everything. For the first time, Coach Le Ky Phuong had to travel 30 km to Nam Thanh commune (Nam Dan) to convince him.

Coach Le Ky Phuong even went to Nam Thanh Secondary School to meet with the Board of Directors, the homeroom teacher and his classmates to encourage Dinh Xuan Tien to "come down the mountain" and return to SLNA to practice.

Coach Le Ky Phuong traveled to Nam Dan for the second time to convince his family. After many years of training young people, Coach Le Ky Phuong believed that Xuan Tien would be a promising talent in the future of Nghe An football, but that trip was not successful. Understanding the psychology of young children, before leaving, Coach Phuong tried to tell his parents to let the boy sleep away from his mother to avoid getting used to her scent.

Poem by Dinh Xuan Tien to his teacher during his first days at SLNA. Graphics: TK

Born into a family with a tradition of studying in Nam Dan, his mother was a teacher, Dinh Xuan Tien was not only a good soccer player but also an excellent student famous throughout the region. With Xuan Tien's academic ability and virtue, relatives, neighbors, and neighbors all advised Mrs. Dinh Thi Song not to send her son to SLNA but to pursue his studies.

That was actually a sincere advice and made Dinh Xuan Tien's parents moved. Regretting the football talent of this boy, not discouraged, Coach Le Ky Phuong went to Nam Dan for the third time to persuade the family but failed. Coach Phuong was willing to rent a house for Tien and his mother near each other so that SLNA would not lose a talent, so that he could develop his full potential.

By the fifth time, Coach Le Ky Phuong still could not convince Xuan Tien's family because his parents were always afraid that their son would drop out of school, afraid that he would be spoiled in a tempting football environment. This was also the time when Coach Phuong gave up, respecting the family's right to decide, but the teacher's passion helped Mrs. Dinh Thi Song have faith in her son.

Coach Le Ky Phuong is a particularly dedicated teacher at SLNA. Photo: Trung Kien

"I still joke, Liu Bei had to ask Zhuge Liang for help three times, but with Dinh Xuan Tien, I had to go up the mountain five times."

Coach Le Ky Phuong

At the age of 12, Dinh Xuan Tien was selected to play for U13 SLNA in the 2015 National Youth Championship. However, that was the year that U13 SLNA missed out on the championship title when they lost to Viettel in the final match. A year later, Dinh Xuan Tien became captain of U13 SLNA but once again lost to this opponent in the final match after a penalty shootout.

In the SLNA youth team, Dinh Xuan Tien developed according to his inherent talent and often "grew before his age". Together with his friend Nguyen Van Bach, these two players wore the U15 SLNA shirt when they were only 13 years old and wore the U17 SLNA shirt when they were only 15 years old. Up to now, Dinh Xuan Tien is both an official member of the U19 SLNA team and a pillar of the U17 SLNA team.

Remember at the 2017 National U15 Finals in the match between SLNA and Viettel in the group stage, Dinh Xuan Tien surprised everyone with his talent and confidence.

The young SLNA player dribbled from the home field, soloed past 6 opposing players to score, helping the home team win 4-2. Unfortunately, that year, U15 SLNA had to stop at the semi-finals. After this tournament, Dinh Xuan Tien was called up to the Vietnam U16 team.

Dinh Xuan Tien and his mother. Photo: NVCC

Not only that, Dinh Xuan Tien is also often borrowed by PVF Center to practice and compete abroad. This is also a place with top medical care so Dinh Xuan Tien and his teammates can practice recovery if injured. Those "adventures" have helped the young talent SLNA accumulate and learn many things.

Not only is Dinh Xuan Tien a good soccer player, he is also an example for his teammates in terms of determination and training and living style for the whole team to follow. Although the road ahead is still long, when seeing her son growing up and maturing day by day, Mrs. Dinh Thi Song sent her first teacher two extremely touching poems.

The poem expresses the thoughts, desires and passion of a boy who loves football. And also the thoughts of a mother with her hopes and expectations for her son. The two poems were printed, framed and given to the teacher by Mrs. Dinh Thi Song to express her gratitude for the efforts and dedication of Coach Le Ky Phuong as well as the teachers at SLNA.

A touching poem by Mrs. Dinh Thi Song. Graphics: TK

Up to now, Dinh Xuan Tien has owned many titles, from U13 and U17 silver medals to the U15 championship in 2018 with coach Le Ky Phuong. After returning from the National U19 tournament, Dinh Xuan Tien will continue with coach Le Ky Phuong and coach Pham Van Quyen to conquer the 2020 National U17 tournament.

The 2020 National U17 Football Tournament will be a new stepping stone on Dinh Xuan Tien's journey to becoming a professional player. This is the tournament where Phan Van Duc, Pham Xuan Manh, Hoang Van Khanh and Ho Tuan Tai shone, helping U17 SLNA win the championship 8 years ago. Hopefully in the near future, the V.League playground will welcome a generation of talents like Dinh Xuan Tien.

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