The generation of players the same age as Que Ngoc Hai at SLNA "disbanded"
(Baonghean.vn) - At the end of the 2018 season, the generation of players born in 1993 officially had their contracts with the Nghe An team expire. Some players were retained, while others had to leave Vinh Stadium to seek opportunities to develop their careers.
Bad luck with titles
In the U17 SLNA team that won the 2009 National U17 tournament held in Nam Dinh, there were quite a few players born in 1993. Typical examples include: Sy Nam, Xuan Thang, Sy Sam... However, the core of U17 SLNA in this tournament were not the players born in 1993 but the 1992 generation of Van Cong, Khac Ngoc, Van Hung...
Exactly 1 year later, at the 2010 National U17 Finals, U17 SLNA with the core of the 1993 generation could not successfully defend the title. In the final match, Manh Hung and his teammates were defeated by the home team U17 Da Nang with a score of 1 - 0. U17 SLNA won the runner-up position, and center back and captain Manh Hung won the title of Best Player of the tournament.
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| Manh Hung was once the brightest face of the 1993 SLNA generation. Photo archive |
It can be said that the 1993 generation did not really have a chance to win titles in youth tournaments, because they continuously came up empty-handed in the National U19 Finals, National U21 Finals... Most of the 1993 generation only had one or no chance to experience the feeling of being a champion. Notably, this generation of players has many faces considered outstanding talents of SLNA as well as of Vietnamese football. For example, the central defender pair Ngoc Hai - Manh Hung.
In the history of SLNA, there have been few players promoted to the first team as many as Ngoc Hai and his friends. Roughly counting, there are about ten faces (Ngoc Hai, Manh Hung, Sy Nam, Sy Sam, Xuan Thang, Xuan Toan, Van Manh, Thanh Phong, Quang Dai...). However, their career paths are not similar. Some shine, others fade away over time.
Some stay, some leave
Among the faces who have played for the U19 Vietnam team (Ngoc Hai, Sy Nam, Xuan Thang, Sy Sam...), U23 Vietnam team (Manh Hung, Ngoc Hai, Sy Sam, Xuan Thang, Van Manh...), now only Ngoc Hai is with the Vietnam team participating in the AFF Cup 2018. The other faces are struggling to assert themselves at SLNA and other teams.
At the end of the last season (2018), the 1993 generation of players also officially expired their contracts with the Nghe An team. Some faces were retained by SLNA, some had to leave Vinh stadium to seek opportunities to develop their careers. While Sy Nam, Manh Hung, Xuan Thang, Sy Sam continued to contribute to their hometown team, Thanh Phong, Van Manh, Quang Dai, Xuan Toan had to leave with regret. The case of Ngoc Hai is not clear.
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| Ngoc Hai will most likely leave SLNA right after the AFF Cup 2018. Photo courtesy |
What has happened and is happening with the 1993 generation of players is completely normal in professional football and SLNA is no exception. There are players that SLNA wants to keep, but cannot keep, and there are also players that do not want to leave, but the Nghe An team has no intention of keeping them. It all depends on the professional level of each player and the financial potential of the team.
From now on, Nghe An fans will witness matches where the 1993 players are present on both sides of the battle line. Because in the past and the coming time (when Ngoc Hai returns from AFF Cup 2018), Vinh stadium is the place where farewells take place. Like a verse of the great poet Nguyen Du: "One mounts the horse, the other separates the robe - The autumn maple forest has dyed the color of the border" (Truyen Kieu)./.
