Dream of a round ball

(Baonghean) - Exactly one month after the 2015 Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament ended, there are still pure and innocent memories in every story, every look and smile of the young players. After the tournament, many promising players caught the eye of the SLNA Club scouts, and now, they are eagerly preparing for the moment of entering school with a burning dream of playing football.

In Chau Quang commune (Quy Hop), after returning from the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children Football Tournament, little boy Nguyen Trung Thanh suddenly became... famous! The villagers jokingly said so, because after the season, Thanh and his family received many phone calls from scouts from youth football training centers inviting Thanh to come down and try his hand at and pursue professional football long-term. "The teachers at Viettel "training center", then also Van Sy Hung's center, and SLNA's training "training center" all called. The family agreed to completely respect his decision. In the end, he chose to study at SLNA "training center" because his long-time dream was to play for his hometown team" - Ms. Nguyen Thi Theu, Nguyen Trung Thanh's mother confided.

The 2015 Nghe An Newspaper Cup season was the second year Thanh participated in the Quy Hop children's team as a striker. At 11 years old, compared to his peers, Thanh seemed smaller, but when witnessing his performances on the football field, it was easy to exclaim words of praise for his agility, technical playing style and aggressiveness. In the matches, Thanh often had beautiful goal assists, threatening the opponent's goal. Watching Thanh play, many spectators on the sidelines whispered, guessing that this boy must have the genetics, or had participated in professional training classes? "Absolutely not, the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children Football Tournament is the first professional, large-scale tournament and so far is the only one Thanh has participated in. Thanh has been passionate about football since he was a child, but mainly played in the village and school fields with his friends, not competing or studying anywhere. In the family, no one has pursued a sports career..." - Ms. Nguyen Thi Theu shared.

Thanh is the eldest son in a family where his father is a driver and his mother is a housewife. Therefore, Ms. Theu said, Thanh is very affectionate and attached to his mother. They have agreed to join SLNA's youth training center, and will officially go to Vinh city to study at the beginning of August, but the closer the separation date gets, the more reluctant the mother and son are. "I want my son to go to pursue his passion and dream, but I still can't help but feel nervous and anxious. This is the first time my son has been away from home, living and working at the center, not knowing if he will soon get to know his teachers and friends, or take care of himself or not..." - the young mother confided. In recent days, the mother and son have been packing their belongings for the trip away from home, but they keep packing them up and putting them away, with indescribable worries and anxiety rolling up in their hearts because their son is still so young...

Not as anxious and worried as the family of young player Nguyen Trung Thanh, but the family of player Ho Viet Manh (Tan Vinh block, Le Mao ward, Vinh city) still has to arrange many things before the time Manh officially comes to SLNA's youth training "furnace". "More convenient than friends in many other districts and towns, the family lives right in Vinh city, the child can go back and forth to rest at home every day, not having to live in a concentrated area like the friends. Therefore, we are not too worried about food and accommodation, but worried about whether the child can adapt to the environment and schedule of both studying and practicing football or not?" - said Ms. Duong Thi Hoai Thuong, mother of Ho Viet Manh.

It is known that Manh is not only an excellent striker in the Vinh children's team, contributing 9 goals, helping the team win the championship at the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament in 2015, but also an excellent student for 5 consecutive years at Le Mao Primary School. Sharing his unconcealed excitement, young player Ho Viet Manh innocently said: "I admire the SLNA football team, so my dream is to become a mainstay player of my hometown team in the future. I rarely miss SLNA matches, watching the uncles and brothers play, I wish that one day soon I will be able to stand on the field like that."

Sitting next to her, Manh's mother continued: "Honestly, neither of us are very enthusiastic about football, but seeing our son's passion, we respect him and feel happy. In recent days, the SLNA team played at home, and both of us bought tickets to take Thanh to watch. He was very happy!" Then, the mother and son chattered about the happy memories of the summer accompanying the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament. Looking at their sparkling eyes and smiles, we saw a rise in faith in the dreams of football that had taken flight, and expectations for the future generation of young players in the province...

Phuong Chi