The best U15 player in the country and the goal 'between two banks of emotions'

(Baonghean) - A young player who has never trained at SLNA has a special affection for his hometown team. This image has warmed the hearts of many Nghe An fans, easing some of the sadness of losing the match.

Nguyen Ngoc Tu was born in 2002 in Quynh Hong commune (Quynh Luu). Tu was passionate about football and played football since he was a child. Therefore, he was selected to join the commune and district football team and then participated in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament when he was only 9 years old.

At that time, Ngoc Tu and Quang Thuan were two quite prominent players of the Quynh Luu District Youth and Children's Football Team. Later, Ngoc Tu, Ngo Quang Thuan and Pham Tien Dung were noticed by Viettel scouts. And all three were officially signed training contracts with Viettel Football Training Center after having a convincing debut at the Viettel U10 Tournament held in Khanh Hoa.

Ngoc Tu scored the opening goal for U15 Viettel. Photo: Internet

Although he had a good academic record, both his parents were passionate about football, so Ngoc Tu decided to leave home and join Viettel, which was very much supported by his family. In fact, Nguyen Ngoc Tu's dream was to train and become a player for his hometown team SLNA.

However, for some reason, the talent of this young talent was not noticed by SLNA scouts. To become a young player of Viettel, Ngoc Tu had to pass strict tests of 10 coaches and the technical director of Viettel Football Training Center.

When he was introduced to football, from the playgrounds at school, along with his friends in the village, Ngoc Tu always chose to play as a goalkeeper. But then, while playing football at school, he sprained his wrist. Although he did not tell his parents about this incident, Ngoc Tu could not hide it and from then on, his father firmly refused to let him play as a goalkeeper.

Idolizing his senior Le Cong Vinh, Nguyen Ngoc Tu gradually showed his instincts as a young striker and showed his talent in this position. Not only that, Ngoc Tu twice made his hometown team suffer bitter defeats in the semi-finals and finals.

That was at the National U13 Finals held in Hue in 2015, in the final match between U13 Viettel and U13 SLNA, Ngoc Tu became the hero of U13 Viettel when he scored the only goal in the last minutes of the first half. This goal made U13 SLNA regretfully become the former champion of the tournament after 2 consecutive years of winning.

Ngoc Tu raised his hands and did not celebrate the goal scored against his hometown team. Photo: Trung Kien.

This year, fate brought U15 SLNA and U15 Viettel to face each other in the U15 Finals taking place in Tay Ninh. Nguyen Ngoc Tu once again faced his hometown team, with former teammates who had moved to SLNA such as Ngo Quang Thuan and Pham Tien Dung. And in the semi-final match a few days ago, Ngoc Tu was the player who scored the opening goal, helping U15 Viettel eliminate U15 SLNA. Ngoc Tu confided: “When I received the pass from my teammate, I just thought about how I had to handle the situation well.

The feeling when I faced Nguyen Van Viet and scored was hard to describe. It was exactly the same as the feeling 2 years ago in Hue, a little happy, but really sad when I defeated my hometown team. Because I have always been proud of my hometown, of the SLNA team...

After that situation, the player from Quynh Luu immediately stopped, raised both hands to signal not to celebrate the goal. Meanwhile, his teammates were extremely excited and rushed to share the joy. Nguyen Ngoc Tu stood there in a daze surrounded by his teammates and then continued playing.

At the end of this year's U15 tournament, Ngoc Tu's Viettel team finished second, but he was awarded the title of best player of the tournament by the Organizing Committee.

Before Ngoc Tu, there were at least 2 senior players who scored against their hometown team and did not celebrate, namely Tran Buu Ngoc in the final match between U17 Viettel and U17 SLNA in 2015. And midfielder Nguyen Hong Viet when he was playing for Dong Nai. All of them had special emotions, moments of living between two emotional banks.

Quynh Trang