Coach Ha Thin - "technician" of Vietnamese football

(Baonghean) - Known as the "technician" of Vietnamese football, one of the first golden generations of Nghe An football, Ha Thin is a player who plays a very special role in bringing Song Lam Nghe An to play in the highest league in Vietnam. Currently, the once famous veteran continues to take on a new task, going to Xieng Khouang to be the coach of the football team of neighboring Laos.

Coach Ha Thin (second from left) takes a photo with SLNA veterans.

I met coach Ha Thin at the training ground of Song Lam Nghe An Club when he was assigned to lead the football team of Xieng Khouang province (Laos). His gentle, kind but somewhat austere and thoughtful face made him look much older than his 62 years of age. His "fate" to come to Laos was also very coincidental. In mid-November, when he was in the peak period of the youth training season, with the core being U13, veteran Ha Thin was sent by the leadership of Song Lam Nghe An Club to Laos to be the head coach to replace Ngo Quang Truong who had returned to lead the first team. When he received the news, famous player Ha Thin was quite surprised, because he was old and was focusing on youth training, now going to Laos, he did not know if he could "make a difference" or not? Especially when Xieng Khouang province was twinned with Nghe An, the task he was assigned was not simply a professional one, but also a political one, serving the friendly relationship. With everyone's encouragement, he decided to accept.

The Xieng Khouang Province football team was sent to train in Nghe An, where they competed with the U-teams of Song Lam Nghe An and gradually adapted to the new football mindset – a football style based mainly on technique. This was also the mindset and football philosophy that Ha Thin had pursued since he was a player of Song Lam Nghe Tinh.

In the late 70s of the last century, when mentioning Ha Thin, fans all over the country had to admire his special talents that not every striker had. Originally a young player in the first generation of Nghe An football, in 1968, Ha Thin was recruited into the Nghe Tinh youth team. Three years later, the youth team disbanded, he became a worker at Vinh Mechanical Factory. After working sessions, he was passionate about the ball as if it had a special magic. In early 1979, Nghe Tinh Provincial Team decided to let its team participate in the national B-class tournament with the goal of being promoted to A2. At this time, everyone immediately remembered Ha Thin. Very quickly, the Department of Physical Education and Sports worked with Vinh Mechanical Factory to borrow him to strengthen the team. As the goal set, the team was promoted, Ha Thin was the core and was transferred from Vinh Mechanical Factory to the Department of Physical Education and Sports. This was also the period of sublimation of Ha Thin in his new role – a striker. His special talent was skillful dribbling and superb heading ability.

In 1988, in the club's farewell match against the Thanh Hoa Police team, Ha Thin scored a goal in his own style and then went to Germany to study football. 4 years later, he returned to coach the youth teams of SLNA. At that time, Song Lam Nghe An was famous for its "hard-hitting, iron-chopping" style of play and it was Ha Thin who "blew a new wind" with his technical style of play, softening the steel legs of Nghe An players. He pursued that philosophy and many people considered him "the technician of Vietnamese football". It was Ha Thin's technical philosophy that contributed to his new achievements in youth coaching. Until now, before going to Laos, he still worked hard with the young players at U13 Song Lam Nghe An.

Currently, Coach Ha Thin and the Xieng Khouang football team have returned to Laos to train and prepare for the Laos National Sports Tournament. The once-famous veteran confided: “The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the club trust me, so I have the opportunity to “go abroad” to be a coach. Bringing the bell to strike in a foreign land, I really want to strike it loud, but I am afraid that my ability is limited. Anyway, I have to try my best, inspire my students to lay the foundation for a new football team with a new, more technical and professional style of play in Xieng Khouang province.”

Nguyen Khoa