Hoang Van Khanh's journey from Nghe An Newspaper Cup to the National team

(Baonghean.vn) – From a shy young player of the Children's football team that won the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Football Championship, after 10 years Hoang Van Khanh has become a pillar of SLNA and the hope of the national team.

Hoang Van Khanh recalls: “When I was young, I was lazy to study and loved football, so when I heard that I could go to the city to play football, I was very happy. A few days before going to Vinh to participate in the tournament, I was very excited, waiting and nervous. But when I got there, I missed home and cried and wanted to go home. So my parents had to travel all the way to Vinh to encourage me.

By the second time participating in the tournament, I no longer felt homesick, but completely excited. Those were the rare times we got to sleep in a hotel, go to the beach and eat at a restaurant...”

Hoang Van Khanh (far left) in the U17 SLNA shirt won the National Championship in 2012. Photo: Trung Kien

Having played impressively for the Tan Ky Children's team - the champion in 2007, Hoang Van Khanh was recruited directly to SLNA. Here, the first milestone that made everyone remember Khanh was the 2012 National U17 Championship with coach Ngo Quang Truong in Hue.

With his outstanding physique and leadership qualities at the heart of the defense, Van Khanh was truly the rock of U17 SLNA in that tournament. A year later, Van Khanh was given the captain's armband of U19 SLNA with players like Xuan Manh, Tuan Tai, Van Duc...

Hoang Van Khanh's football career was not very smooth. Coach Guilaume Graechen called him up to the U19 Vietnam team for an international friendly tournament, but a careless tackle caused Khanh to be eliminated from the team. This was the first fall in the life of the promising and fiery midfielder of SLNA. Pressure from public opinion, moments of weakness due to his young age, there were times when Khanh wanted to give up.

“If you quit football, will you be able to hold a hoe to dig the ground when you come home?”, just this one sentence from his mother made Hoang Van Khanh wake up. Thinking about his parents’ hardships so that he could follow his passion, Hoang Van Khanh pulled himself together to continue on the path he had chosen.

No longer is there an immature Hoang Van Khanh, lacking concentration and making unwise tackles. The central defender born in 1995 has now truly become a pillar of SLNA and is a great successor to his senior Nguyen Minh Duc who is 34 years old. The opportunity that Manh Hung and Ngoc Hai had, is now once again in the hands of Hoang Van Khanh.

In a few years, Hoang Van Khanh will truly be the mainstay of SLNA's defense. Photo: Internet

After 4 seasons playing in V.League, including half a year in Can Tho, Hoang Van Khanh is the most experienced player among the defenders who are likely to be called up to prepare for the upcoming SEA Games. Not only that, Hoang Van Khanh also has the ideal physique of a central defender (1m80 tall), plays football with the ability to analyze and predict situations excellently thanks to the guidance of his senior Nguyen Minh Duc and the high fighting spirit is the instinct of SLNA defenders.

At present, Nghe quality is decreasing day by day as other football training centers are rising strongly. Hoang Van Khanh and Ho Tuan Tai are two of the few players called up to the U22 Vietnam team recently and the national team to compete in the Asian Cup qualifiers.

If Ho Tuan Tai was added by coach Nguyen Huu Thang as a solution to save the domestic strikers, then Hoang Van Khanh's performances in SLNA's shirt show that he deserves trust and expectations in the future.

Going back 10 years ago, if he had not participated in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament, football for Hoang Van Khanh might have been just an everyday game like any other child and Nghe An football fans would not have had a promising star like now.

Trung Kien