Former defender Le Thanh Long: The silent 'hero' of Nghe An football
(Baonghean.vn) - With his contributions to SLNA during most of his football career, Le Thanh Long is considered the silent hero of the Nghe An team from the late 90s of the last century to the early 2000s.
At the age of 21, Le Thanh Long was promoted to the SLNA first team to play alongside famous seniors such as Van Sy Hung, Nguyen Huu Thang, Ngo Quang Truong, Phan Thanh Tuan, Pham Anh Tuan, Van Sy Son... Right in the first season (1995), Le Thanh Long was often used by former coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh.
Playing as a right-back in a 5-3-2 formation, the former player born in 1974 always completed his assigned tasks excellently. Like his other colleagues, Le Thanh Long possesses a diligent, enthusiastic playing style and is not afraid of collisions. In addition, the former defender nicknamed Long "giò" also has the ability to read situations quite well. It is no coincidence that Le Thanh Long was always present in the starting lineup of SLNA from 1995 to 2002.
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| Le Thanh Long (3rd from right) in the SLNA team in 2001. Photo: Quang Minh |
At the end of the 2003 season, Le Thanh Long decided to leave SLNA to join HAGL, with a contract worth over 100 million. At the mountain town team, Le Thanh Long still affirmed his class. Before leaving Pleiku Stadium, the former SLNA defender also had time to lift the V.League championship trophy with HAGL in the 2004 season. This was the third championship of Long "gio" in the most prestigious arena of Vietnamese football.
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| Le Thanh Long in HAGL shirt. Photo: FBNV |
Currently, Le Thanh Long is working as a coach at the T&T - VSH Youth Football Training Center (Cua Lo town), where many former SLNA players gather. In addition to Le Thanh Long, there are also Van Sy Hung, Van Sy Thuy, Van Sy Linh, Nguyen Quang Tho, Ho Thanh Thuong... Most of them are "once famous" faces of Nghe An football./.
