'Vietnamese Messi' - the story of shirt numbers and clubs
(Baonghean.vn) - Asian football has produced many "Messi", almost every country has a star with this nickname. But until now, not many young players have been able to stay in the team for long. Recently, after 4 months of joining Sint-Truidense, "Vietnamese Messi" Cong Phuong has just made his debut in the first match of Ho Chi Minh City Club.
4 years, 5 clubs
Including Ho Chi Minh City, up to now, "Vietnamese Messi" Cong Phuong has been through 5 clubs in 4 years, a number considered a record for a Vietnamese player. If counting 2019 alone, Cong Phuong has also been associated with the names of 3 clubs, which is more sad than happy. The contract with Mito Hollyhock in 2016, which was touted by the press and had high expectations, ended without fanfare.
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| Cong Phuong had a sad memory with the number 15 shirt at Sint-Truidense. Photo: Sint-Truidense. |
Actually, it is hard to blame Cong Phuong because the decision to stay or go, which club to play for, this Nghe An player is not the one to decide. And at any club, Cong Phuong has done his best, but was not successful because the shirt was too big.
6 years, 9 times changing shirt number
But choosing a shirt number (or even a hairstyle) is different. Up to now, Cong Phuong has chosen 9 different shirt numbers, which is too much and unnecessary. Maybe Cong Phuong wants to wear the number 10 shirt, but for many different reasons, he cannot. There were times when he was forced to change shirt numbers, due to the request of the team's coaching board. But paying too much attention to things outside of his expertise is also the reason why Cong Phuong is in a situation where he blooms early but fades quickly.
According to statistics, Cong Phuong used number 10 the most, even having the nickname CP10 especially during the U19 period. In addition, when he first appeared in V.League 2015, Cong Phuong was given the number 44 shirt by HAGL Club because at that time Hoang Thien was wearing number 10. When he moved to play for Mito Hollyhock (Japan), Cong Phuong wore number 16 shirt and played 7 matches with 197 minutes of play before returning to HAGL.
At the Four Nations friendly tournament at My Dinh Stadium to prepare for the 2018 ASIAD, in the Vietnamese Olympic team jersey, Cong Phuong wore the number 20 shirt. This was a shirt swapping tactic by Mr. Park so that the opponents at the 2018 ASIAD would not recognize the important faces. At the 2018 ASIAD, Cong Phuong wore the number 9 shirt, while Van Quyet wore the number 10 shirt.
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| Number 10 is Cong Phuong's favorite number. Photo: VPF |
The second time Cong Phuong went abroad was to Incheon United in 2019 with a 1-year loan contract from HAGL Club, and the Korean team gave him the number 23 shirt. However, Cong Phuong only stayed with Incheon United for exactly 4 months, and did not leave any impression on the Korean audience.
With the number 15 shirt, Cong Phuong almost disappeared at Sint-Truidense and had to return to wear the shirt of Ho Chi Minh City Club in the 2020 season to wear a new shirt number, number 21. Thus, at only 24 years old, Cong Phuong has also set a record for using the most shirt numbers. Those are numbers 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 20, 23, 44 and now 21. Previously, in 2015, in a friendly match with the Vietnam National Team against Man City Club, Cong Phuong once wore shirt number 21.
Certainly, both the shirt number and the club number that Cong Phuong plays for do not stop at 9 and 5 when the age of the Nghe An player stops at 24. Everything would be better if Cong Phuong shines in a new shirt, a new club instead of constantly changing like now.
