Defender Tran Dinh Hoang: The return of the king of the right wing

Defender Dinh Hoang was born in 1991 in Hung Nguyen and joined SLNA at the same time as Nguyen Manh, Hoang Thinh, Khac Ngoc, The Nhat, Phi Son... This generation of players has been dominating youth tournaments for many years and brought many successes to the U17, U19 and U21 SLNA teams.

In 2010, Dinh Hoang and The Nhat were irreplaceable players in the Vietnam U19 team participating in the Southeast Asian U19 Championship. Two years later, Dinh Hoang and the SLNA U21 team won the National U21 Championship after a 10-year wait.

After that championship, Dinh Hoang was officially promoted by coach Huu Thang to the SLNA first team as a right wing back. In V.League 2013, when the Nghe An team still had Au Van Hoan, Dinh Hoang still had 17 matches and 12 starts. An achievement that few young players have in their first professional career.

With impressive performance in the Nghe An team, Dinh Hoang participated in the 2013 SEA Games before being called up by coach Miura to the national team to prepare for the 2014 AFF Cup. However, under the Japanese coach, Dinh Hoang had no place as Ngoc Hai and Thanh Hien were the top choices for the right-back position. Before he could prove himself, returning from a training trip in Japan, Dinh Hoang unfortunately suffered a nose injury, saying goodbye to the Vietnamese national team right before the 2014 AFF Cup.

2014 was also the year SLNA said goodbye to defender Au Van Hoan, Dinh Hoang naturally became the number 1 player in the right-back position ever. With a strong physical foundation, speed and a fierce pursuit style of play, Dinh Hoang rarely lost in one-on-one matches, whether the opponent was a foreign or domestic player.

Dinh Hoang was once the best right-back in the Vietnam national team. Photo: Duc Anh

Good expertise, professional training, playing and living style, but luck turned its back on the defender nicknamed Hoang "me". Ending V.League 2016 with continuous injuries, 12 appearances did not reflect the full ability and level of this defender. However, in the eyes of coach Huu Thang, Dinh Hoang is truly a drill with a strong physical foundation, modern playing style, and the ability to attack and defend rhythmically on the right wing.

Although Dinh Dong and Au Hoan were still there, throughout the preparation for the AFF Cup 2016, the starting position was almost guaranteed for this defender. On the contrary, Dinh Hoang also responded to his coach's trust with very convincing performances.

However, right at the final stage of preparing for the AFF Cup, Dinh Hoang had two relapses of his previous knee cartilage injury, had to undergo surgery and continued to be an unwilling spectator of the tournament. This forced coach Huu Thang to use Dinh Dong in the second leg of the semi-final against Indonesia and lost. If Dinh Hoang had participated in this tournament, things would have been different.

Not only did Dinh Hoang miss the 2016 AFF Cup with the Vietnam national team, he also had to stay away from the field for the entire 2017 season due to surgery and treatment for a meniscus injury. A long year of struggling with injuries did not discourage this player. Although there were rumors about his early retirement.

Dinh Hoang is having beautiful days with SLNA. Photo: Duc Anh

Returning to V.League 2018 after a period of "sleeping on thorns and tasting bile", Dinh Hoang has truly cooled the hearts of SLNA's coaching staff and Nghe An fans. He played 24 matches in V.League, contributing greatly to helping his team win the Top 4 position at the end of the season and the National Cup bronze medal. After 6 seasons of professional football, Dinh Hoang was once again noticed by coach Park Hang-seo in the AFF Cup 2018 and Asian Cup 2019 campaigns.

Because that was the time when Van Thanh and Xuan Manh were injured one after another. The SLNA defender was on the preliminary list and was asked to transfer his passport to go to Korea for training. However, at the last minute, Coach Park chose Trong Hoang for the position that the Vietnam team was lacking and removed his name from the list.

Although he is a bit sad because of his bad luck with the national team shirt, Dinh Hoang still tries his best every day in SLNA's shirt. After 6 matches, Dinh Hoang has always been a reliable support for his teammates. The image of a "drill bit" of the past has really returned but with more experience and composure.

In the past, Dinh Hoang refused all offers from big teams to stay in his hometown with a 3-year contract. By the end of V.League 2019, Dinh Hoang will likely continue to stick with the Nghe An team. Dinh Hoang owes his career a title with the national team, but his career also "owes" players like Dinh Hoang a V.League championship./.

Sad birthday night of defender Dinh Hoang

(Baonghean.vn) – In his football career, Dinh Hoang has never had to go through such a difficult year as this year. And on his birthday, which was also the night of the second leg of the AFF Cup 2016 semi-final, SLNA fans organized a small but extremely cozy birthday party for him.