Memories of striker Phung Van Nam's days participating in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup

Unforgettable memories

Until now, after nearly 6 years, football fans of Hoang Mai town still cannot forget the image of a striker with a small stature but impressive football playing. The lightning-fast breakthroughs of that player in the Hoang Mai Town Children's Team shirt made all opponents terrified. The person we are talking about is striker Phung Van Nam, a player of Hoang Mai Town Children's Team, participating inYouth - Children Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup2017.

The 2017 Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament left many unforgettable echoes. Photo: Archive

Back in that year, Phung Van Nam soon showed his innate talent when participating in the elementary school football tournament in Hoang Mai town. The convincing performance of the player born in 2006 made a strong impression on coach Ho Huu Tien (Coach of Hoang Mai Town Children's Football Team). Therefore, this coach quickly added Phung Van Nam's name to the list of Hoang Mai Town Children's Football Team to participate in the Newspaper Cup.

“I was mesmerized by Nam’s way of playing football. Although he is not tall, he has excellent technique, especially his short sprints are very impressive. I used to think of him as a Vietnamese Messi,” coach Ho Huu Tien shared.

Phung Van Nam (white shirt) in the U17 Song Lam Nghe An jersey. Photo: Chung Le

Entering the 2017 Nghe An Newspaper Cup, Phung Van Nam was assigned to play the highest position in the attack of Hoang Mai Children's Football Club. This player won the trust of the team's coaching staff when he created a great influence in all the victories of Hoang Mai Football Club that season. In almost all matches from the group stage to the final matches of the tournament, Van Nam left his mark. Most of the goals scored by Hoang Mai Football Club had the mark of this striker.

“At that time, the children growing up in my hometown all had the same wish to play football in a tournament as big as the Nghe An Newspaper Cup. And we all felt extremely happy after our team’s victories. Those were very different emotions, mixed with a bit of pride and a desire to reach the next milestones” - Phung Van Nam recalled.

The first trip away from home of the striker from Quynh Vinh became a beautiful memory in his life. Because in that year's tournament, Nhi Dong TX.Hoang Mai advanced to the final match with resounding victories.

The final match between TX.Hoang Mai and Tan Ky witnessed a record number of fans coming to the stadium to cheer.

“I have never seen so much love from fans for the Hoang Mai Children's Football Team. About 10 buses transported fans more than 80 km to the stadium to cheer on the home team. They were fully equipped with banners, drums and trumpets, bringing great encouragement to our team,” said the coach of the Hoang Mai Children's Football Team.

At the start of the match, all the stands of Nghe An Provincial Sports Stadium (No. 6 Dao Tan) were almost full. The endless cheers of the fans created a fiery atmosphere on the field. Fueled by the fans, the players of both teams performed an exciting and dramatic match, satisfying all the spectators who came to watch. The most memorable moment was when the score between Hoang Mai City Children's Football Club and Tan Ky City was 1-1, Hoang Mai City fans all stood up and shouted Phung Van Nam and held up a banner with the player's name printed on it. At that moment, the striker born in 2006 shone with a super goal to set the score at 2-1 for Hoang Mai City. The victory in the final match brought this team to the highest position of the 2017 Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament.

Although nearly 6 years have passed, that moment is still vividly imprinted in Phung Van Nam's mind. The striker recalled: "At the end of the match, everyone rushed onto the field to congratulate the Hoang Mai Children's Team. I was thrown high into the air by the audience, everyone hugged each other and burst into joy. I am proud that I contributed a part of my efforts to bring the championship to my team. The Nghe An Newspaper Cup is a beautiful and unforgettable memory of my childhood."

Affirming talent

With a brilliant performance at the Youth - Children Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup, Phung Van Nam was selected to the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center. With his talent and efforts, Van Nam is always the number 1 choice in the attack of the Song Lam Nghe An youth teams. The presence of the striker from Hoang Mai Town has contributed to helping the U11 and U13 Song Lam Nghe An teams win the National U11 and U13 Championships in 2017 and 2019.

In particular, at this year's National U17 Tournament, Phung Van Nam left an impression on fans with his effective acceleration and assists. In addition to the 3 goals scored for U17 Song Lam Nghe An, Van Nam also coordinated well with Trong Tuan, Trong Son and Long Vu to bring eye-catching matches to the audience. Although this season U17 Song Lam Nghe An only stopped at the semi-finals, with the beautiful and dedicated passing play of Phung Van Nam and his teammates, they scored points with many fans.

Phung Van Nam (left) scored 3 goals at the 2023 National U17 Tournament. Photo: Archive

The difference of the player born in 2006 is that he not only sticks to his forte position as a striker but also plays well when pushed out to the wing. The clearest proof is when Phung Van Nam joined the Vietnam U16 team to compete in the 2022 U16 Asian qualifiers. Coach Nguyen Quoc Tuan (Vietnam U16) arranged for him to play right midfielder in the 3-4-3 formation of Vietnam U16. At that tournament, Phung Van Nam coordinated quite well with Le Dinh Long Vu to bring a fiery attacking style to the red team. His convincing performance helped Vietnam U16 win a ticket to the 2023 U17 Asian finals with the top spot in the group.

Phung Van Nam shared: “My forte is playing as a striker, but I am still confident when the coaches arrange me to play on the wing. My strengths are speed and technique, so I think I will still be suitable when playing on the wing. To better complete the task in this position, I need to improve my ability to recover the ball. In the future, if I cannot compete for the striker position, I hope I will be chosen to play as a winger. I will always strive to live my passion to the fullest.”

Currently, Phung Van Nam has been called up to the Vietnam U17 team to train for the U17 Asian Cup to be held in Thailand next June. With his proven talent, hopefully Phung Van Nam will maintain stable performance to be in the official squad led by coach Hoang Anh Tuan./.