SLNA's "former player" Nguyen Van Duc: Quietly at the port city team

Born in the same year as Que Ngoc Hai, Pham Manh Hung, Nguyen Sy Nam…, Nguyen Van Duc is not as famous as his peers. Although the starting point of the player from Hung Nguyen (Nghe An) is not inferior, even better than his teammates of the same age, his career path is quite bumpy.

Having been a part of the U17 SLNA team that won the 2009 National U17 Championship, and having worn the U19 Vietnam jersey to participate in the 2012 Asian U19 Championship held in the UAE, Nguyen Van Duc was one of the promising talents of Nghe An football at that time. In early 2014, the player born in 1993 was named by coach Nguyen Huu Thang to the SLNA roster for the new season.

Nguyen Van Duc in SLNA shirt in 2014. Photo from FBNV

However, at that time, the Nghe An team had a series of excellent faces playing in the position of full-back. Typically, in the right-back position was Au Van Hoan, on the opposite wing was Tran Dinh Dong, and there was also Tran Dinh Hoang. It was completely normal that Nguyen Van Duc could not compete with his seniors, the former U23 Vietnam players and the Vietnam National Team mentioned above.

It is not surprising that the number of times Nguyen Van Duc played for SLNA in V.League 2014 stopped at only 2. Realizing that the opportunity at Vinh Stadium was too small for him, Nguyen Van Duc decided to move to the North to play for Hai Phong right before the 2015 season started. In his first year playing for the Lach Tray Stadium team, the defender from Hung Nguyen was sent by coach Truong Viet Hoang to play 7 matches in V.League 2015.

However, things did not go smoothly for Nguyen Van Duc in the following season. The former U19 Vietnam player had to frequently be on the bench, unable to compete for a position with Nguyen Anh Hung, Phung Van Nhien... In the entire V.League 2016, Nguyen Van Duc only played in 3 matches (1 match as a starter). This was a very disappointing result for the former SLNA player.

Nguyen Van Duc (number 4) is trying to assert himself in Hai Phong. Photo from FBNV

Not discouraged, Nguyen Van Duc continued to train hard to win the trust of Hai Phong's coaching staff. In the past two seasons (2017 and 2018), the 25-year-old defender's appearance in the matches of the Lach Tray team has increased significantly. In addition to the matches at the National Cup, Nguyen Van Duc is also occasionally used by coach Truong Viet Hoang in the V.League arena (Nguyen Van Duc's number of matches in the V.League 2017 and 2018 were 9 and 8 respectively).

At the end of this season, Hai Phong's leadership decided to extend Nguyen Van Duc's contract for another 2 years. With the departure of his senior Nguyen Anh Hung (playing for Quang Nam), opportunities are wide open for Nguyen Van Duc. If he proves his ability during the preparation period for the 2019 season, the left-back position of the port city team will be firmly in the hands of the Nghe An player. A bright future awaits Nguyen Van Duc ahead.

Hopefully, after the ups and downs, after the hardships, Nguyen Van Duc will become more mature and shine in Hai Phong's shirt in the upcoming seasons. Perhaps, Nguyen Van Duc has "overcome the worst" and is preparing for "a better time"./.