Thai ethnic girl from Nghe An attends Women's World Cup
(Baonghean.vn) - In the list of 23 Vietnamese female players participating in the Women's World Cup in late July and early August, there are 3 players from Nghe An. Among them, Ngan Thi Van Su is the most notable player, with excellent performance in recent times.
Nghe An girl has a connection with the capital's football team
Born in 2001, in a family of two brothers in Kim Tien commune (Tuong Duong), since she was a little girl in kindergarten, unlike other girls her age, Ngan Thi Van Su was very fond of soccer and often played soccer with her brother in the yard next to the small stream behind the house.
In 2007, to serve the construction of the Ban Ve Hydropower Project, Ngan Thi Van Su's family moved to a resettlement area in Tan Ngoc village, Ngoc Lam commune (Thanh Chuong). However, the passion for soccer of the small girl did not change.
In 6th grade, because she was agile and often played soccer with boys, Ngan Thi Van Su was selected by teachers at Huong Tien Secondary School to join the girls' soccer team to participate in the Phu Dong Sports Festival of the school cluster. Although the school's soccer team did not achieve high results, Su caught the eye of a coach responsible for recruiting players for the Hanoi girls' soccer club in the Nghe An and Ha Tinh areas. And this coach came to Su's house to convince her parents to let their daughter go to Hanoi to audition for the club.
Seeing his daughter's passion and desire to play football, Mr. Ngan Van Minh - Su's father packed up and went to Hanoi with his daughter to participate in the selection. A few days later, Su was recruited by the youth football coaches of Hanoi Club to train with the U13 and U14 age groups.
Coming to professional football at the age of 13, having to leave her family to become independent, this was no small challenge for Ngan Thi Van Su. “In a place with no relatives, hundreds of kilometers away from home, the first days I was very sad, hiding in a corner and sobbing. Then with the encouragement of the teachers, I gradually got used to it. I say I got used to it, but sometimes I still miss my parents, miss my brother and just want to run home as fast as possible. Every time I do that, I bury myself in practice,” Ngan Thi Van Su shared.
With her natural talent, determination and hard work, Van Su has continuously improved her skills. After 1 year of training at Hanoi Club, the Thai ethnic girl from Ngoc Lam resettlement area was on the list of the Vietnam Football Federation to participate in the 2015 AFC U14 Women's Football Championship - Southeast Asia. In the final match against Thailand, it was Van Su who set the score 2-1, bringing home the Gold Medal for the Vietnam U14 Women's Team.
In 2017, at the age of 16, Van Su was promoted to the first team of Hanoi FC to compete in the National Women's Football Championship. At the club level, the girl from Nghe An played excellently, contributing to the National Women's Football Championship of Hanoi FC in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Shine in the National Women's Team
In 2018, Ngan Thi Van Su was called up to the National U19 team to participate in the qualifying round of the 2019 Asian U19 Women's Championship in October 2019. Having played prominently in this tournament, at the end of 2019, along with Nguyen Thi Tuyet Ngan, Cu Thi Huynh Nhu, Thanh Nha, Ngan Thi Van Su was called up by coach Mai Duc Chung to the National Team to compete in the qualifying round 2 of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics taking place in Korea in early 2020.
No one dared to believe that she was chosen by coach Mai Duc Chung to start the match against the Myanmar team in the third qualifying round of the 2020 Olympics, because this was a match that would decide the ticket to the next round of the Vietnam Women's Team while Su was still young and this was only her first tournament with the National Team.
However, the Nghe An girl played excellently and scored the only goal of the match, bringing the ticket to the final qualifying round for the Vietnam Women's Team, something that previous generations of senior players had not been able to do. Even in the following match against Korea, an opponent that was superior in both physique and class, Van Su still played tirelessly, making her coaches and teammates admire her.
Initial success in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2020 Olympics helped Ngan Thi Van Su regularly appear in the main squad of the Vietnam Women's National Team and Hanoi Club. In 2019 and 2020, the Thai ethnic girl from Nghe An was continuously voted the best player of the National U19 tournament. At the 2020 Golden Ball Awards ceremony, the Thai ethnic player was also voted the best young female player.
With 8 years of professional football, including 4 years on the National Team, despite being called “Dwarf” due to her short stature (only 1m52 tall), Ngan Thi Van Su clearly shows her advantages in speed, technique, finishing ability and passing. Able to play on the left wing, right wing or center forward, Van Su is also a female player with a strong point in running, creating space and coordinating with teammates. Not only that, every time she takes the field, Su always shows enthusiasm, determination, confidence and always gives her all.
In the National Team, Ngan Thi Van Su is the catalyst for an extremely fierce competition for position with female midfielder Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy on the left wing. Although she is not always the number 1 choice of coach Mai Duc Chung in this position, every time she is on the field, Van Su always knows how to shine with important goals.
In addition to the only goal that helped Vietnam defeat Myanmar 1-0 in the 2020 Summer Olympics Women's Football Qualifiers in Asia, Ngan Thi Van Su also scored the opening goal to help Vietnam defeat Cambodia 3-0 at the 2022 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship, the equalizer that helped Vietnam draw 1-1 with Thailand at the 2022 Asian Women's Football Championship, and 2 goals against Cambodia at the 31st SEA Games (2022) and 32nd SEA Games (2023).
Notable achievements that Ngan Thi Van Su and her teammates in the national team won:
- Bronze Medal 2022 AFC Women's Asian Championship.
- Champion of the 2019 and 2020 AFF Women's Championship; Runner-up of the 2022 AFF Women's Championship.
- Gold medal at SEA Games 31 and 32.
Notably, this July, along with Thai Thi Thao and Vu Thi Hoa (both from Do Luong), Ngan Thi Van Su is one of three players from Nghe An to be on the list of 23 players participating in the 2023 Women's World Cup Finals held in Australia and New Zealand. Previously, on June 24, in a friendly match with the German Women's Team, Ngan Thi Van Su had an accurate assist to help Thanh Nha score a super goal against the EURO 2022 runner-up team.
Despite her dedication to the National Team, Ngan Thi Van Su is always concerned about how to help her parents have a more comfortable life when they are old. “Although life is not too difficult now, my family only has enough to eat. The old house was built a long time ago and has not been renovated. I hope to be healthy, to be given the opportunity by the teachers to compete in major tournaments and achieve high results to receive bonuses. I will send all of it back to my parents to repair the house, and in the future, maybe make some capital to start a business to stabilize life,” Van Su confided.
