The story of Truong "buffalo"'s career

(Baonghean) - When he was a player, with his ideal height and strong physique, people nicknamed Ngo Quang Truong “Buffalo” Truong. But in reality, Quang Truong also knew how to kick the ball with his head. Therefore, when he was a player, everyone knew the name Ngo Quang Truong, when he was in the national team and wore the captain’s armband of SLNA for many years…

Coach Ngo Quang Truong (2nd from left) joins the physical training with the players. Photo: Duc Dung

Ngo Quang Truong was born in 1972 in Hung Chinh commune, Hung Nguyen district. According to many people, Quang Truong is related to Mr. Ngo Xuan Quynh, a famous player of The Cong in the past. After retiring, Mr. Quynh became a sports expert and was considered a "big tree" of Vietnamese football. Mr. Quynh's son, Ngo Quang Tung, became a famous commentator because he inherited his father's passion and knowledge.

Ngo Quang Truong's path to football was also very special. After finishing high school, Quang Truong participated in the collective football tournament for farmers in Hung Nguyen district and played impressively. A teacher introduced Quang Truong to try out for the SLNA football team. With good physical strength and skills, Quang Truong was accepted and officially became a player of the SLNA first team since 1989.

Present at the same time as Huu Thang, Van Luu, Thanh Tuan, Van Tien…, Quang Truong is also a name that cannot be ignored in the period when SLNA made waves, with many consecutive undefeated seasons in the “fire pan” of Vinh. That was the late 90s, the last century, Quang Truong in the role of midfielder showed his ability very well. In addition to being the best physical strength in the team, Quang Truong also knew how to play football with his head, with the ability to think and create the ball.

That was the period when Quang Truong was invincible in terms of position at SLNA and was then called up to the national team to prepare for many major campaigns. Not as outstanding as his compatriot Nguyen Huu Thang, but in the national team, with his football ability, Quang Truong also made people respect him and played in many matches in the main squad. The highlight of the series of achievements with the national team was the silver medal at the Tiger Cup 1996 in Malaysia.

With good physical strength and full of desire, after his contemporaries had retired, Quang Truong continued his career in "shorts and jerseys". In 2004, to make room for the juniors at Song Lam who had grown up, Quang Truong played for HA.GL on loan and won the national championship with this team. In 2005 and 2006, Quang Truong played for HP.HN on secondment. Before retiring, Quang Truong returned to play for SLNA. Starting from 2008, Quang Truong invested in his studies to prepare for a new task, which was to train young people.

In his new position, Quang Truong also had to make a lot of effort, from expertise to absorbing pedagogical knowledge, "passing the torch" to his students. After many years of trying, in 2012, Quang Truong had his first title, which was the U.17 national championship in Hue as head coach. In 2014, he won the national silver medal with U.19 SLNA.

Besides trying to bring glory to Nghe An youth football, Quang Truong is also a very progressive person who takes advantage of every possible time to learn. When Huu Thang suddenly left SLNA, the leaders of Nghe An football team, in an effort to find a replacement, only found a few qualified people, that is, with a coaching license A, including Ngo Quang Truong. Having glory in the past and a pretty good current job, but because of his desire to move up, Quang Truong has been learning constantly and that is what he scored with the team leaders so they decided to appoint him as head coach of SLNA's first team.

Taking on the task in a difficult period, when finances were tight, the force was "bleeding" and very few people believed that Quang Truong could help the team get out of the crisis. The fear was even greater when in the opening match against Hai Phong at home, SLNA lost miserably with many questions about the expertise of both teachers and students. The pressure was heavy but in difficult times, Quang Truong knew how to make wise decisions. By using players in rotation, Quang Truong created competition and the team played better with each match. Up to now, after 8 rounds, SLNA has 14 points, in the top of the rankings.

Before the recent Lunar New Year, with 3 consecutive wins, SLNA was awarded more than 1 billion VND. Never before have Nghe An players had such a happy Tet as this year. After the stormy days, Quang Truong has regained his confidence and peace until in the early days of spring, people saw Quang Truong leisurely taking his wife and children to the pagoda, praying for peace in the new year. A happy family with 3 children further motivates Quang Truong to try. "My wife works in the garment industry, her job is also stable. My eldest daughter is 18 years old this year, and all the children are at school age. My wife understands and shares, my children are well-behaved, that is the motivation for me to focus on doing a good job at the football team," Quang Truong shared. Thanks to this solid "rear" Quang Truong is currently devoting all his efforts to coaching at SLNA Club. Through the first 8 rounds of V.League 2015, former national player Ngo Quang Truong has dispelled all doubts and worries of fans when he took charge of a team in V.League for the first time.

Vinh Liem