Midfielder duo Khac Ngoc - Ngoc Toan: One path, two destinies

At the end of V.League 2019, Khac Ngoc and Ngoc Toan are two midfielders, two pillars of SLNA whose contracts are out of contract. In terms of expertise, Khac Ngoc is the more highly regarded player, he was called up to the national team by coach Park Hang-seo in 2018 and has also played more years in V.League than his junior.

Khac Ngoc's transfer value is up to 2-3 billion VND, his salary is extremely high, so the chance for SLNA to keep Khac Ngoc is almost non-existent. And Viettel Club is the most suitable team, with the economic potential to roll out the red carpet to welcome Khac Ngoc to join.

As for Ngoc Toan, who started out as the captain of SLNA U19, playing in the defensive midfielder position, his career has not been as glorious as Khac Ngoc's, but his role in the Nghe An team is also very important. This player himself also wishes to play for his hometown team, to be close to his small family.

Midfielder Vo Ngoc Toan in SLNA shirt. Photo: TK

Therefore, SLNA offered him a contract worth 1.5 billion VND/season. A dream number for a 25-year-old professional player without the "label" of a national player. Unfortunately, the proposal from the Nghe An team came too late, SHB Da Nang was quicker and reached an agreement of 1.4 billion VND/season with the midfielder born in 1994.

Coming to the Han River football team, Ngoc Toan is facing many difficulties in integrating. Coach Le Huynh Duc currently has many excellent midfielders, including Dang Anh Tuan - a versatile attacking and defensive midfielder, Hoang Minh Tam - a midfielder born in 1990 who has played for SHB Da Nang for 7 consecutive seasons (2013 - 2019). In addition to competing with them, Ngoc Toan also has to change his playing style to suit the philosophy of this demanding, individualistic coach. That's why since arriving at SHB Da Nang, Ngoc Toan has only entered the field once from the bench, playing for exactly 1 minute.

Khac Ngoc is succeeding at Viettel Club. Photo: Hai Hoang

Unlike Ngoc Toan, Khac Ngoc joined Viettel Club with a very high signing fee and of course when he arrived here, Coach Truong Viet Hoang prioritized a starting position for this midfielder with an intelligent and gallant playing style. Although Viettel Club is famous for youth training and has many talented young midfielders.

In V.League 2020, not including the National Cup, Khac Ngoc played 11 matches, a full 940 minutes. Although not called up by coach Park Hang-seo in the recent training session for the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, the Viettel midfielder is still one of the most successful players since leaving SLNA with 4 assists and 2 goals for Viettel Club.

Thinking about the players who left SLNA, Nghe An fans have many contrasting emotions. They are happy for players like Trong Hoang, Ngoc Hai, Khac Ngoc, Nguyen Manh at Viettel Club but worried about players like Vo Ngoc Toan. At the peak of their career, if this player does not play regularly, he will easily fall into the category of "blooming early, fading late".

Why was Khac Ngoc not called up to the national team by coach Park Hang-seo?

(Baonghean.vn) - Among the 36 players on the list called up by coach Park Hang-seo, there are many new faces but unfortunately, midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc, who is in good form, is not on the list.