Former U19 National Player Nguyen Viet Nguyen - the boy who gave up the lecture hall to play football

Not only in SLNA but also in V.League, there are few players who dare to give up university to pursue a career in football. For Viet Nguyen - a young face expected and representing a new generation in Nghe An, that is special.

On the afternoon of March 14, in SLNA's defeat in Indonesia in Group H of the AFC Cup 2018, many people mentioned striker Viet Nguyen with regret. In a match where SLNA played defensive counter-attack, Nguyen Viet Nguyen had several opportunities but handled the ball slowly and was replaced afterwards.

Viet Nguyen was the main striker of U19 SLNA in 2014. Photo: SLNA FC

Before appearing in the AFC Cup, Viet Nguyen was known by many as a very special player.

Before participating in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament in 2005-2007, Viet Nguyen was the main striker of Le Loi Primary School. Famous for being “good at studying and playing football”, every year this boy born in 1995 received many certificates of merit in addition to his impressive academic achievements.

In 2007, Viet Nguyen caught the eye of scouts and was recruited into the SLNA academy, selected for the SLNA U13 team. Football is a sport that carries many risks. At the 2011 National U17 Finals, an accident happened to Viet Nguyen in his first match against Dong Thap. The horrific collision with the opposing defender broke his fibula, requiring half a year of treatment before he could return to training.

Player Viet Nguyen in Song Lam Nghe An shirt.

For a young player, that is a terrible obsession in the early steps of his football career. However, the young SLNA player was determined to return to the field and became a mainstay of the SLNA U19 team at the 2014 National U19 Finals. That year, Viet Nguyen was the main scorer of SLNA U19, along with Van Khanh and Tuan Tai, he contributed greatly to helping the team reach the final but did not reach the pinnacle of glory. That excellent performance helped this striker be called up to the Vietnam U19 team along with his two teammates Van Duc and Tuan Tai.

Following his football career, this player still maintains his "study hard" and has a very impressive academic record. As the second child in a working-class family in Vinh City, the family's circumstances are quite difficult, but Nguyen's parents focused on investing in his studies from a young age. During his primary school years, Viet Nguyen achieved the title of excellent student every year. In the following high school years, despite the dense training and competition schedule, Nguyen was still a good student and passed the entrance exam to the Business Administration major at Vinh University.

Viet Nguyen and Tien Dung in the U19 Vietnam team jersey. Photo: FBNV

Obedient, hard-working, physically fit and passionate about playing football, Viet Nguyen was named by SLNA's coaching staff to participate in V.League 2016.

That was the time when Viet Nguyen was forced to stand between two choices. Give up his passion to pursue his studies or put his studies aside to follow football. General Director Nguyen Hong Thanh worked with Vinh University to request a leave of absence for Viet Nguyen. However, when he became a professional player, conditions did not allow it, so Nguyen was forced to choose to drop out of school.

1m83 tall, good in the air, finishing quite delicately and effectively, but Viet Nguyen's biggest limitation is his mentality, due to the haunting injuries of the past. According to the teachers, Viet Nguyen has suffered 5 serious injuries to both legs and arms. Even so, Coach Quang Truong and Coach Duc Thang still saw the qualities of this player.

After 3 years in the SLNA first team, things have become much more difficult for Viet Nguyen. In the SLNA shirt, Viet Nguyen has only played 7 matches (1 starting), without scoring any goals. In the past, the SLNA coaching board has often arranged for this player to practice in the center-back position but has not brought much results.

In the match against Persija Jakarta, Viet Nguyen started from the beginning and was replaced in the second half after a disappointing performance. In the 80 minutes on the field, Viet Nguyen had 3 shots, 1 on target, 35 touches, 18 accurate passes and 2 defensive tackles. Those are not very convincing statistics, but for a special player like Viet Nguyen, it can be considered a new step forward./.

Conceding a goal in injury time, SLNA lost their first match in the AFC Cup

(Baonghean.vn) - Going to Indonesia to play as guests at Persija Jakata, SLNA did not bring their strongest squad, but coach Duc Thang's students still stood firm for 90 minutes against the home team and suffered a bitter defeat right in the extra time.