Ho Van Cuong - promising young star of Song Lam Nghe An

Innate talent

At the National U19 Tournament, SLNA had prominent faces such as Phan Xuan Dai, Nguyen Van Bach, Ho Van Cuong, Dinh Xuan Tien, Nguyen Canh Tiep... Among the names mentioned above, Ho Van Cuong is still the player most highly appreciated for his intelligent and diverse playing style. U19 SLNA ended their journey at the 2022 National U19 Tournament with 3rd place overall and coach Dinh Van Dung was very satisfied with his student from Hoang Mai town.

Ho Van Cuong in a training session with his teammates. Photo: Duc Anh

Since his time at Quynh Tan Secondary School, Ho Van Cuong has shown his innate talent. Although not tall, Ho Van Cuong can continuously turn around and pass a series of tall players and shoot like a bomb with both feet into the opponent's goal. Initially, Ho Van Cuong was introduced to SLNA by Coach Nguyen Hai of Quynh Luu District Culture and Sports Center, but due to his small stature and not meeting the standards of modern football, he was eliminated.

But this only made the passion for football in the heart of the boy Quynh Luu burn more,Ho Van Cuongcontinued to register and was accepted into the VPF youth training center. “Being able to eat and sleep with the ball is my joy, luckily my parents supported me,” Cuong shared.

With a technical playing style, Ho Van Cuong was chosen by the VPF youth training center coaches for the position of fullback. Playing aggressively, fast and able to constantly change the direction of attack, Ho Van Cuong is a "whirlwind" on the right wing of VPF. In both attack and defense, Ho Van Cuong showed outstanding ability and was called up to the national team by the coach of the U16 Vietnam National Team.

But an incident in daily life caused Ho Van Cuong to be fired by the U16 Vietnam Coaching Board and VPF to terminate his contract. It seemed like a sad ending for the young talent when everything had just begun...

A chance to do it again

It seemed like the door to his life in shorts and numbered shirts was closed, but Ho Van Cuong was taken care of by the youth trainers at SLNA. After working and having his family commit, SLNA accepted Ho Van Cuong. “It is true that the teachers at SLNA gave me a chance to relive my dream of playing football. I will always remember these feelings and will be willing to stay with SLNA for a long time,” Cuong shared.

Ho Van Cuong is always present at the hot spots that U19 SLNA creates on the opponent's field. Photo: Hai Hoang

In 2020, as a mainstay in the SLNA U17 team competing in the National U17 Finals, Cuongimmediately showed his intelligent playing qualities, tactical vision, and basic techniques. Cuong was the one who always ignited dangerous attacks on the right wing and was the one who scored the first goal of the final and had an assist for his teammates to score.

In 2021, when he was only 18 years old, Ho Van Cuong was selected by the SLNA Coaching Board and promoted to compete in the National U21 tournament and contributed with his seniors to win the Silver Medal. His reward was being called up to the first team by the SLNA Coaching Board along with 4 other teammates in the process of rebuilding the team by Coach Huy Hoang.

Returning to the 2022 National U19 Finals, compared to his peers, Ho Van Cuong has had a rather long journey of battle, along with hard training, helping the boy wearing the 19 shirt have an impressive style. In the first two matches against U19 Dong Thap and U19 Binh Dinh, the midfielder of U19 SLNA played extremely impressively and was voted the best player of the match.

Keep your feet on the ground

Being voted into the 11 best players of the 2022 National U19 Tournament has made Ho Van Cuong called up by coach Dinh The Nam to the U23 Vietnam squad to participate in the 2022 Southeast Asian U23 Tournament taking place in Cambodia. Although he only played 30 minutes on the field in the U23 Vietnam squad, Cuong left a great impression in the eyes of experts. This player born in 2003 was promoted to play as a right midfielder and his crosses are a powerful weapon for U23 Vietnam.

With constant efforts, Ho Van Cuong has made great strides through each tournament. Photo: Hai Hoang

Ho Van Cuong is one of the few young Vietnamese players who have participated in many tournaments and have begun to shine. If he can develop his technical strengths and limit his physical shortcomings, Ho Van Cuong will go even further. Former national player Dang Gia Man shared: "The main thing is that Ho Van Cuong must keep his feet on the ground to increase training, avoid all temptations in everyday life to soon have a place in the main team of SLNA and then the national team."