SLNA Captain - Who are you?

That was the person with smiling eyes even when facing an opponent, perfect technical movements with the ball in every situation and a high jump to score a goal that exploded on the stadium. That was also when the Nghe An team was just starting to step into the top football village, using strength instead of technique as the main thing and goals were always something luxurious, rare and hard to find...

Since then, the Nghe An team has almost "defaulted" the position of captain to be mostly central defenders: Bui Dinh Dai, Quang Hai, Huu Thang, Huy Hoang, Que Ngoc Hai and currently Van Khanh. Of course, there are times when the captain plays in the midfield position like in the time of Quang Truong or Trong Hoang. All of them have one thing in common: they are "planned" as a long-term source for the team, as the leader leading the juniors. If their contracts expire, they will be given priority in negotiating to create conditions for them to stay at Vinh Stadium long-term, continue playing and grow up.

2 former captains Ngoc Hai and Trong Hoang. Photo: Archive

It can be said that theplayer given captain's armbandThe most progressive and mature players in SLNA are Huu Thang, Quang Truong and Huy Hoang, of which only Huu Thang was the most successful when he brought the V. League championship to the Vinh team in the 2011 season, then promoted to take charge of the U23 and Vietnam national team but was unsuccessful.

Quang Truong has been the head coach twice but has struggled, while Huy Hoang has not been tested in practice. From SLNA captain, Huu Thang and Ngoc Hai were given the captain's armband of the Vietnam national team, and when he joined the national team, Ngoc Hai was successful with the team when he won the AFF Cup 2018 and is competing in the third round of the World Cup 2022, while under Huu Thang, he could not overcome the "wall" of Thailand at the SEA Games. In terms of personal achievements, Trong Hoang is the most successful person when he collected a full set of SEA Games gold medals and won the AFF Cup and is the person who has had the longest time "eating national team food".

Comparing their abilities is lame, but it can be seen that, on and off the field, Huu Thang and Huy Hoang are more prestigious than Quang Truong. Meanwhile, the captain's armband makes Trong Hoang play less comfortably and seems unsuitable, so his leadership qualities rarely shine compared to the great individual ability of this star when playing.

The story now is that SLNA may soon face a "pleasant headache" when there are 3 players qualified to be given the captain's armband: Van Khanh (current) and 2 former captains Ngoc Hai and Trong Hoang.

If we look at the recent U23 Vietnam team level, everything will quickly settle down: the elected captain Van Toi did not play in the starting lineup in two consecutive qualifying matches, but instead Hoang Anh and Hai Long, everything is still going smoothly under Mr. Park. Que Ngoc Hai at Viettel did not wear the captain's armband, as did Trong Hoang when he returned to SLNA, which is considered normal when all order has been established and stabilized for a long time. Depending on the specific case, they will be assigned tasks, even when they do not wear the captain's armband, SLNA still needs them to demonstrate; the qualities of a leader, a locomotive in any time, any circumstance under the guidance of the head coach, the exemplary senior Huy Hoang.

So, SLNA captain, who are you? It must be a senior player with prestige on and off the field, clearly demonstrating personal ability and leadership qualities in all situations. For SLNA, that captain must demonstrate the outstanding qualities of the team, which is to play with dedication, to be a game of men, never backing down from any difficulty.

We can refer to the way former MU captain Roy Keane said when he saw his juniors playing poorly recently: "...you have to show your emotions, your passion. Before, I often bumped into (CP emphasized) someone on the field and sometimes it worked, stimulating the fighting spirit of the team..." (TT&VH, November 7, 2021).

It is not by chance that this famous player said so? The above-mentioned individualistic move may be legal if considered unintentional, may be illegal if considered intentional, may result in a yellow card, even a red card, but it is certainly never a move to destroy an opponent leading to serious consequences, causing inherent bad reputation as often seen.

It is to know how to attract teammates, and also to minimize the unfortunate things that can happen. The team captain is the first person to know the lesson and everyone knows that, with SLNA, almost every position must know many lessons, including the lesson of "crashing" when necessary as the senior football player Roy Keane taught when he helplessly watched his beloved team fall freely...