Dinh Xuan Tien: From Nghe An Newspaper Cup to the dream of becoming a shining star on the football field

Dinh Xuan Tien in an internal training session with SLNA club. Photo: Duc Anh

The class monitor and his passion for football

Born in Nam Dan district, from childhoodDinh Xuan TienTien is famous for being a smart boy. His mother is a teacher so studying is always a top priority for him. For 5 consecutive years, he has been an excellent student at the town's Primary School.Nam Dan. In class, Tien was always a role model, chosen by his teacher and friends to be the class monitor. “Back then, I was very studious. No matter how much homework the teacher gave me, I had to do it all and find many different ways to solve it. Therefore, in the school and district competitions for excellent students, I was often chosen by my teacher to join the team,” Tien said.

Despite being a good student, Tien is very passionate about football. After every class, Tien and his friends play football in the school yard. Although he is not tall, Tien has outstanding technique, so he is always the "leading" player. Seeing that Tien has outstanding football talent compared to other friends, when the district's gifted football class came to recruit players, Tien was the first to be introduced.

Passionate about football, Tien convinced his mother to let him join the district football team to compete in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament. In 2013, Tien was only 10 years old, the youngest player in the team, but was always the one chosen by the coach to play as a starter. On the field, Tien always showed his superior football skills compared to his teammates. Most of the goals of the Nam Dan Children's Team at that time came from Tien's feet. The end of the tournamentNghe An Newspaper CupIn 2013, Nam Dan Children's Team won the Bronze Medal. Entering the seasonYouth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper CupIn 2014, Tien became the Captain of Nam Dan Children's Team, contributed greatly to helping the team win the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Championship and was voted the best player of the tournament.

With what he showed at Nghe An Newspaper Cup, Tien was selected by coach Le Ky Phuong (SLNA) recruited into the Nghe An football team's training center. "The Nghe An Newspaper Cup tournament is the most important and memorable milestone in my career. The tournament not only creates a useful playground for young players but also helps us have the opportunity to enter the professional football path", Dinh Xuan Tien shared.

Dream of shining on the field

After being recruited directly into the SLNA training center, Tien was forced to choose two paths in his life: either continue his studies or pursue a professional football career. With a burning passion for playing football, Tien decided to stick with the career of "shorts and jerseys". However, after only 5 days in the team, because he missed home so much, Tien returned to his hometown to continue his studies.

Not accepting to lose this “rough diamond”, Coach Le Ky Phuong once again went to Tien’s family to convince him to return to SLNA. The 3 months at home were a difficult time for Tien when he could not play football, could not live his passion. Therefore, Tien returned to SLNA with the determination to practice hard to become a football star in the future.

Midfielder Dinh Xuan Tien. Photo: PV

Training process atSLNA, Tien always shows his footballing qualities, day by day, his skills are gradually perfected. With an intelligent mind and skillful feet, Tien is always the leader of the midfield of SLNA youth teams. According to the coach's assessment, Tien has technique, vision, ability to observe, keep the rhythm of the game, especially possessing sharp passes. Therefore, Tien is always assigned the role of organizing midfielder.

The first professional tournament Tien participated in was the 2016 National U13 Championship. In this tournament, Tien was placed in the position of organizing midfielder, he scored 5 goals and was voted the typical player of the tournament. In the following years, Tien always played an important and irreplaceable role in SLNA's youth teams. In 2020, Tien was 1 of 2 players who scored goals to help SLNA U17 win the National U17 Championship.

With great contributions to the national teams, Dinh Xuan Tien was called up to the first team by SLNA's head coach. He is the youngest player at the moment to be signed by SLNA's first team and is a golden opportunity for Tien to nurture his dream of becoming a football star.

“The first days in the first team, I was also confused. Before that, I had not played with the seniors, so everything was quite strange. But the seniors often encouraged and shared, so I felt more and more sociable. As for playing football, I saw that the seniors in the first team played very differently from the youth teams. Here, they played faster and more fiercely, so an attacking midfielder like me had to handle things simply and accurately,” Tien shared.

Playing in the first team, Tien is increasingly mature in both mentality and technique and has a chance to join the official squad. "The time training with the first team of SLNA is not long but has given me a lot of useful knowledge. If given the opportunity to play in the V.League, I will try my best to gain the trust of the coaching staff," Tien said.

Tien also shared: “If I had to choose again between studying culture and football, I would still choose football. Because the path I have chosen up to now has opened up a bright future for me, not only that, it also allows me to live with my passion.”

The road ahead for Tien is still quite long, the young player will have to strive every day and with his inherent desires and abilities, who knows, in a few years, the name Dinh Xuan Tien will be a shining star in the hearts of fans.