'Hai Lo': King of Vietnamese football records with a contemptuous smile

He has never stayed anywhere for more than two seasons: from youth teams, women's football, Second Division, First Division to V.League..., so in addition to the name Hai Lo, Mr. Le Thuy Hai also has another nickname, Hai "nomadic".

Smirking smile

In Ha Dong today, his seniors and peers still call him by the affectionate name they have called each other since half a century ago: Hai “buck-toothed”. Because every time he played grapefruit ball or rubber ball on the sidewalk, he had a habit of holding the ball past his opponents, kicking it into the goal and then looking up and laughing happily. He laughed so much that his teeth were visible, so he was nicknamed Hai “buck-toothed”.

But that is just one of the nicknames of Coach Le Thuy Hai. Because of his characteristic of not staying anywhere for more than two seasons: from youth teams, Women's Football, Second Division, First Division to V.League..., he is called Hai "nomad". But the name people like to call him the most is Hai "lo". Because he is young, lives freely with a very "lo trai" style and especially, has a special smile that only Hai "lo".

Coach Le Thuy Hai.

Win or lose, happy or sad or bitter, he always smiles - a contemptuous smile. Binh Duong won the V.League 2006, he went back to his room, put down a bowl of instant noodles and smiled to himself. The third time he returned to Binh Duong, preparing for the 2012 season, he was at the airport welcoming his comrades to go out and "lie to the old man" when he received the news of his dismissal, he still smiled. The day he said goodbye to Hai Phong or when Thanh Hoa terminated his contract, he also smiled.

The smile is very typical of one of the most gallant midfielders of Vietnamese football. That smile once captivated many fans when midfielder Le Thuy Hai played for the General Department of Railways or the Northern team in the 1960s and 1970s, and once captivated Southern audiences when he and TCĐS represented the North in a tour after the country's reunification. In the past, audiences loved Hai "lo" because of his goals and his most talented moves, and even now, when he recounts those glorious times, he still gets teary-eyed.

There are many people who are impressed and love him, but there are also many who hate him, because how can we not hate him and try to "cut" him when every time he passes someone, scores a goal, or successfully performs a technical move or is kicked badly or has his leg cut, he still looks up to the sky and laughs. That was how it was in the past, and at sixty years old, he is still the same, ready to put on his shoes and go onto the field to laugh at his students if needed to demonstrate. Even when playing against the Railway veteran team, he always laughs when he has the ball at his feet.

Life is a journey

After decades of playing football and then rolling around in the North and South following the coaching career, experiencing both glory and bitterness, he still did not stop. At the age of 68 (he was born in 1946), he set off again, when for the fourth time Binh Duong welcomed Mr. Hai "lo".

Mr. Hai said he has everything now: successful children, a comfortable life and many friends, but he still has the same desire. He goes to work now not for money or fame, but simply to still be able to play. Play when you can smell the grass, touch the ball, feel happy and sad after each match and breathe the football atmosphere and sometimes even hear... curses and be rejected but still love it because football is in your blood.

“The 1980 championship (the first year Vietnam organized the national championship) is an unforgettable memory for many players of our generation. TCDS topped the qualifying round, entered the final round with Hanoi Police and Hanoi Customs and won the championship. Those days were so much fun, there was no money or benefits, the salary for playing football was the salary of a worker in the industry. It was truly a time long gone, both hard and happy…”.

King of records in domestic football

The former famous midfielder of the General Department of Railways has only set a record of 3 times winning the V.League championship, but he has many other memorable achievements. To date, Coach Le Thuy Hai is the only person to have 11 consecutive seasons in charge of the V.League. The first time Mr. Hai "lo" worked in the V.League was in 2004 when he accepted the invitation of Mr. Kien to lead the LG Hanoi ACB team. Since then, this coach from Ha Dong has not been absent from any V.League.

He set a record for leading the most teams in V.League with 07 teams including: LG Hanoi ACB (2004), Da Nang (2005), Binh Duong (2006-2008, 2011, 2013, 2014), The Cong (2009), Ninh Binh (2010), Thanh Hoa (2011), Hai Phong (2012). He also had 09 farewells with the teams, most of which were not very smooth.

Mr. Hai “lo” is considered a firefighting expert in V.League with a record of 05 times taking on the task when the team was in trouble: Binh Duong (2006, 2013, 2014), Ninh Binh (2010), Hai Phong (2012). However, only in Binh Duong did this “firefighter” succeed. In 2006, he took on the task when the team was at the bottom of the rankings and brought the team to the runner-up position. In 2013, Binh Duong lost 05 matches at the beginning of the season before inviting Mr. Hai to rescue and bring the team to the safety group.

In 2014, he took over Binh Duong when the team was at the bottom of the rankings and led the team to win 15, draw 02 and lose only 01 match to win the championship 01 round early. Mr. Hai is the second coach in the history of V.League after Mr. Henrique Calisto (in 2006) to lead a bottom team to win the championship.

Mr. Le Thuy Hai is the only person with more than 200 matches in V.League (total after round 21 is 225 matches). He is also the only person with more than 100 wins in this arena (105 matches), far surpassing the next person, Coach Le Huynh Duc, with 86 matches. Of course, he is also the only person with more than 300 points in the domestic arena (368 points) and Huynh Duc is likely to be the second person with 297 points after 168 matches.

When leading Binh Duong in 2007, Mr. Hai and the Southeast team set the record for the most wins (16 matches) and the most points in a season (55 points). If he wins against Da Nang in the final round of V.League 2014, Mr. Hai will have the opportunity to equal the record for the number of wins, and also set a record for the win rate/number of matches.

In 2008, Binh Duong under the leadership of Mr. Hai “lo” became the team with the best performance in the history of V.League when playing away with 23 points. The number of 07 wins when leaving Go Dau stadium in the 2008 season is still a V.League record.

After the victory over DTLA in the last round, Binh Duong also became the team with the best goal difference in V.League history at +30, surpassing the record of +24 of the Hoang Anh Gia Lai generation in 2004.

In terms of salary and income, Mr. Le Thuy Hai has always enjoyed a separate level, exceeding the level of other domestic coaches. He was the first person to request that head coaches receive signing-up money like players and successfully fought for other coaches to also enjoy this. Since 4-5 years ago, Mr. Hai has become the first domestic coach to receive a salary of 100 million VND/month, excluding signing-up money.

It's not an exaggeration to say he's the record king of V.League!

According to Danviet