"Have taken karma into the body"...

(Baonghean) - Joining Song Lam Nghe An at the age of 14, Ho Thanh Thuong is one of the players of the golden generation of Nghe An football. After nearly 15 years of being involved with the round ball, Ho Thanh Thuong considers this his "career" and it would be difficult to give up...

Ho Thanh Thuong started playing football in the youth tournaments in Le Loi ward. Then his dream came true when in the 1994 season, the coaching staff of Song Lam Nghe An team recruited players and Thuong was one of the few lucky ones to be selected. Joining the team quite early, Thuong had the opportunity to rub shoulders and learn from many seniors such as Van Sy Hung, Ngo Quang Truong, Nguyen Huu Thang. His passion and dedication to football was also rewarded when the day he turned 19 was also the day he was trusted by the coaching staff of Song Lam Nghe An team to be selected for the first team. At that time, there were a few dozen players but only he and players Huy Hoang, Thanh Hoan, Thanh Hai were selected.

Sticking with Song Lam Nghe An from 2000 - 2006, he said that was "the best time in his football life". Not long after joining the team, he and the team won the national championship cup in the 2000 - 2001 season. Then he won the Capital Cup, JVC Cup. In 2001, he was called to the national team to participate in the 21st SEA Games. Through many tough matches, and being exposed to many big tournaments, Ho Thanh Thuong has grown more and more mature.

After Song Lam Nghe An, he continued to play for HN ACB, T&T, and played for the Quang Nam province team. During his time as a player, there were moments of glory, moments of bitterness, moments of victory, moments of defeat, but for him, the happiest thing was still hearing the cheers of the fans, and being welcomed home by the fans. Few people know that, in order to have moments of burning out on the field, Ho Thanh Thuong had to struggle to overcome illness, injury, and suffer from degenerative back disease. He himself, before each match, had to be injected with painkillers, and the training process always had to have a separate lesson plan from the doctor. Also because of health reasons, he was called up to the national team a few times but in the end had to withdraw, putting aside the desire to compete with other teams in the region. Illness also did not allow him to prolong his football career, so before the age of 30, he had to say goodbye to professional tournaments with regret.

Not wanting to leave football, in the days when he first returned to Vinh City, his greatest joy was participating in "street" football matches and meeting his old teammates such as Thanh Hoan, Quoc Vuong, Van Quyen, Hai Nam, Lam Tan, Sy Linh... For a while, he turned to business. Recently, when I met him again, I saw that he was very busy as a coach of the Hebeco beer team at the traditional sports festival of workers and laborers of the industry. Sharing about this job, he said: "In the past, when I was still a player, I also studied for 1 year at Tu Son University of Sports (Bac Ninh). Then, because of the continuous tournaments, I didn't have time, so I had to quit. Otherwise, who knows, I might have been a teacher now... Coaching amateur football teams is not stable, mainly for the movement, but I feel happy, because firstly, I have an additional source of income. Second, I get to do the job. Seeing my friends play football, I get to return to the atmosphere of the old days."

Ho Thanh Thuong is a coach for an amateur tournament.

Also because of his “heavy debt” to the football career, when he received the invitation to be a coach for the VSH Youth Football Training Center, he was very happy. This new job, although busy and having many small tasks such as “looking after small children”, he found it meaningful. In the process of guiding the children, besides training in bodybuilding, physical strength, and technique, he also focused on teaching ethics and football skills.

He shared: Family is the motivation for him to return and restart his career in Vinh. This new journey may not have glorious moments, medals, or cheers, but it will still be a happy path for him to complete his football career...

Song Hoang