'Legend' Le Cong Vinh: Talented or not talented?

Origin

Le Cong Vinh comes from a family with special circumstances. He was born in 1985 in Quynh Lam commune, Quynh Luu district, Nghe An. He is the only son in the family, with an older sister and a younger sister, Khanh Chi. When he was growing up, the family fell into financial ruin because his father had a traffic accident. To solve these difficulties, his father, Mr. Le Cong Due, turned to drug trafficking and was arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

During that time, Le Cong Vinh went through difficult days, his mother was the only support for the family. Now, Le Cong Vinh still remembers the sad memory of not having a pair of good sandals to go to a relative's wedding and having to borrow one.

No one in Le Cong Vinh's family is involved in sports. And when he entered SLNA at the age of 14, he was quite late for a talented football player that the Nghe An team recruited. Before coming to SLNA, Le Cong Vinh only played in village stadiums or at a larger level, the Youth-Netherlands Football Tournament, Nghe An Newspaper Cup.

Le Cong Vinh's difficult childhood. Photo: FBNV

Question about talent

Because he entered SLNA late, Le Cong Vinh’s talent and technique were the “worst” compared to the players at that time, he had a slim body and no tactical awareness. And of course, Le Cong Vinh was not considered a star with potential to develop.

In his autobiography, Le Cong Vinh said: “God does not give anyone everything and does not take everything away from anyone. In return for my physical and technical limitations, I have a strong will. That is why in training sessions, I always try harder than the others.

I also did not allow myself to lose to them in games of skill. One of my favorite games was netball. Set the net high like a volleyball, then use your head and shoulders to hit the ball to the other side, whoever let the ball touch the ground lost. I played this game tirelessly.

At first, I lost more than I won. And whoever lost had to crawl between the legs of their opponent. At first, everyone felt very humiliated. Having to bend down and listen to the mocking laughter, it felt like there was nothing more humiliating than that moment. But losing over and over again became... a habit.

Le Cong Vinh when he was still wearing SLNA's shirt. Photo: SLNA FC

Whenever someone invited me to play, I would join in, even if it meant crawling under someone’s legs. After a while, I improved significantly. From losing more than winning, I became winning more than losing. This sport of playing while practicing and playing while practicing helped me improve visibly in my ability to handle the ball with my head. But to pass the test, I still have to perfect dozens of other skills.”

In youth tournaments such as U16 or U18, Le Cong Vinh did not have any special mark. However, in 2002, Le Cong Vinh was called up to the Vietnam U18 team for the first time under the guidance of coach Nguyen Van Thinh. A year later, Le Cong Vinh was recruited directly to the Vietnam U20 team and was honored to wear the captain's armband.

In the U20 Asian qualifiers under the guidance of coach Doan Minh Xuong, Le Cong Vinh helped his team win a ticket to the final round with 4 goals. Also in 2002, Le Cong Vinh participated in the national U21 tournament and won the title of Top Scorer, while U21 SLNA won the runner-up position.

At that time, compared to Pham Van Quyen, Phan Thanh Hoan, not to mention foreign players, Le Cong Vinh was not considered to be promoted to SLNA's first team. After Cong Vinh returned from Than Quang Ninh on loan, the Nghe An team planned to lend this young player to Thua Thien Hue.

Turning point in career

The 22nd SEA Games Pre-Sea Games - JVC Cup in 2003 was considered Cong Vinh's last tournament in SLNA's colors before going to Hue. However, in that tournament, Le Cong Vinh played impressively, scoring the winning goal in a 3-0 victory against Persik Kediri (Indonesia), helping SLNA enter the final match against Perak.

That final match was a beautiful memory for Le Cong Vinh, coach Huu Thang and the SLNA players at that time. As for Cong Vinh, he scored 2 goals and helped his team come back to win 2-1, lifting the Championship Cup. Thanks to this impressive performance (4 goals), Cong Vinh was called up by coach A. Riedl to join the list for the 22nd SEA Games. And of course, Le Cong Vinh was retained by SLNA to participate in the 2004 V.League while Phan Thanh Hoan went to Hue.

The 2003 JVC Cup training football tournament changed Le Cong Vinh's career. Photo: Commentator Quang Huy

In 2004, Cong Vinh scored his first goal in V.League on February 8, 2004 against Dong Thap. He received the award for Best Young Player of the Year in Vietnamese football, and also received the Golden Ball award. That was also the time when Le Cong Vinh became the "top" youngest player to be called up to the national team when he was only 18 years and 183 days old.

Those highlights helped Le Cong Vinh be invited by Japanese and Saudi Arabian clubs with a salary of 8,000 to 10,000 USD/month. But the biggest amount that Cong Vinh was offered was in 2007, when Mr. Do Quang Hien proposed to SLNA with 1 million USD but the deal was still unsuccessful.

Become a transfer "billionaire"

Le Cong Vinh is ranked among the players with the highest transfer value in Vietnamese football. At the end of V.League 2008, Cong Vinh joined Hanoi Club (Hanoi T&T) with a signing bonus of 8 billion, Hanoi Club only had to pay SLNA 500 million VND for training fees.

In V.League 2011, Le Cong Vinh joined Hanoi ACB Club of Mr. Kien with 13 billion VND, a record salary of about 70 million VND/month. However, Cong Vinh only played for Hanoi Club for 1 year and this team did not participate in V.League 2013. He was welcomed by SLNA with open arms.

During his time playing for SLNA, Cong Vinh led the V.League scoring list when the first leg ended. He was loaned by SLNA to Consodale Sapporo (Japan) for 5 months to play in Japan's J.League 2. The amount of money that the Japanese team spent to have Cong Vinh's service was no less than 60,000 USD (more than 1.2 billion VND).

Le Cong Vinh when he returned to SLNA in 2013. Photo: Duc Dong

After the end of V.League 2014, Le Cong Vinh agreed to stay at SLNA for 3 years with a transfer fee of 6 billion VND, but the Nghe An team did not agree. He joined B. Binh Duong Club under a 3-year contract, with a signing bonus of 8-10 billion VND. In total, after more than 10 years of playing at the top level with 3 official transfers, Le Cong Vinh has earned approximately 30 billion VND.

Le Cong Vinh's income is also very high with a series of advertising contracts. According to Le Cong Vinh, his total income from advertising is up to billions of VND. These numbers are enough to prove that he is the best money-making player in Vietnamese football.

Personal achievements and honors

At the national level, Le Cong Vinh won the AFF Cup 2008, scoring in both the first and second leg of the final. At the V.League level, the only time Le Cong Vinh became a champion was in 2015 when playing for B. Binh Duong. However, that year he was on the other side of his career, scoring 4 goals in 20 matches.

In his playing history, Le Cong Vinh won the Vietnam Golden Ball in 2004, 2006, 2007; Vietnam Silver Ball in 2005; Vietnam Bronze Ball in 2008, 2014, 2015; Top scorer of Ho Chi Minh City Football Cup 2004 and Vietnam National Cup 2004; Best player of Vietnam Football Federation 2004.

Le Cong Vinh and his huge titles in his career. Photo: FBNV

Currently, Le Cong Vinh holds the record for the most goals scored by a domestic player in the history of the Vietnam National Championship (V.League) with 132 goals according to Soccerway statistics and 116 goals according to domestic statistics. The former Nghe An striker is the top scorer for the national team with 51 goals and has played the most matches for the national team with 85 matches.

Not only is he one of the top 10 players with the most goals in the history of the Southeast Asian Championship, he is also in the top 10 players in the world with the most goals for the world national team as of 2016. And thanks to that, Le Cong Vinh is recognized as a Southeast Asian football legend, standing shoulder to shoulder with faces like Bambang Pamungkas (Indonesia), Kiatisak (Thailand)...

Up to this point, when Vietnamese football has witnessed Xuan Truong, Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Van Hau playing abroad, there is still no player who has played the most and has a record surpassing his seniors. Specifically, Cong Vinh has played 132 minutes/3 matches/1 goal in Portugal for Leixoes SC and 503 minutes/11 matches/4 goals in Japan.

When mentioning Le Cong Vinh, most fans will remember the most successful player during the 2 decades of 2000-2020, in terms of titles, records and wealth. And if we go back in time and judge that Le Cong Vinh is not a talented player and only relies on hard work and luck, then that is probably a wrong judgment.

Shocking hidden corners in Le Cong Vinh's autobiography

(Baonghean.vn) - In his autobiography "Minute 89", former captain of the Vietnam national team Le Cong Vinh made surprising revelations and unpleasant hidden corners about his relationships when he was playing for Hanoi Club, B. Binh Duong or in the national team.