Nguyen Quang Tinh and the joys and sorrows behind the ball

Lost buffalo because of… passion for football

Like many rural children, Nguyen Quang Tinh's childhood was associated with memorable buffalo herding sessions with his friends on the purely agricultural land of Minh Son, Do Luong district.

Since the age of 4-5, Tinh had a great love for football. Poverty made a leather ball a luxury for rural children at that time. To maintain his passion, he and his friends in the neighborhood had to pick grapefruit and roll it back and forth until it was soft enough to kick. The goalposts were just rows of bricks, but that did not reduce the appeal of the matches.

Many days, Tinh led the buffalo out to the field and was so engrossed in playing ball that the buffalo got lost or ate the rice or potatoes. He had to endure painful beatings from his parents. Sometimes, at 7-8 pm, the family did not see him come home for dinner and had to panic and go looking for him. It turned out that because he went looking for the buffalo, both the buffalo and the person got lost.

Nguyen Quang Tinh is a player who grew up at Song Lam Nghe An. In addition to designing the team's playing style, he is also known for his many excellent goals. Photo courtesy of Nghe An newspaper

But no matter how painful the beatings were, as soon as he saw the ball and was in the game, Quang Tinh forgot everything. He played with all his concentration and enthusiasm. He thought it was just a child's temporary passion, but as each day passed, that passion grew. And then a turning point happened at the age of 10 that completely changed his life.Nguyen Quang Tinh.

At that time in 1998, upon hearing the announcement that Do Luong district was establishing a youth team to train and participate in provincial tournaments, Nguyen Quang Tinh immediately cycled to town to register. After the selection process, Tinh and 3 friends from the same neighborhood were selected. Since then, after school every day, Tinh had to cycle nearly 12 km from home to town to practice. There were days when he was so hungry and exhausted that he could not cycle home, so his friends in the neighborhood had to take turns pulling Tinh so that he would not be left behind.

Born into poverty, Nguyen Quang Tinh always tries his best to carry out charitable activities for the unfortunate. Photo: NVCC

Seeing the hardships of his son when he spent too much time and energy on football, his parents and family tried their best to stop him. At the peak, his grandfather advised him not to do it, so he took a hay rake and ran after him, forcing him to cycle home and not to go any further. So he cycled, and his grandfather ran after him for nearly 1 km.

Seeing that his grandfather was tired, and deep in his heart, Tinh understood that his action came from the boundless love that his grandfather had for him, so he decided to stop the car. After apologizing, Quang Tinh asked his grandfather to let him live his passion. Feeling the seriousness in his words, his grandfather returned so that he could continue to practice. Since that day, his grandfather and parents have changed their perspective, supporting Quang Tinh to nurture his love for football. That is the motivation for Tinh to continue walking on the path he has chosen.

The love of his grandparents and family members is a great motivation for Nguyen Quang Tinh to be able to burn himself out with the ball. Photo: NVCC

Later, because the training process was too hard, Tinh's neighborhood friends gave up. The journey to the ball was left alone, but the effort was rewarded after 1 year of hard training, Tinh was selected to participate.Youth and Children Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cupyear 2000.

In the Do Luong Children's team, Nguyen Quang Tinh played extremely well, contributing greatly to the team's championship. Thanks to his impressive performances, Tinh was recruited directly to the Song Lam Nghe An training center and participated in the 2000 National Children's Football Tournament with the Nghe An Children's team. The Nghe An Children's team later won the National Bronze Medal, bringing Nguyen Quang Tinh's name to a new height.

Shine on the pitch

It can be said that the love and encouragement of his grandfather and family members is a great source of motivation that helps Nguyen Quang Tinh stick with and achieve many outstanding achievements in his journey with football. “Almost every football match I participate in, my grandfather is there to cheer me on. Sometimes it is a scorching hot day or a bitterly cold winter, but in the stands, he is always watching my every step. Thanks to that, when I win, he shares my joy, and when I lose, he is there to encourage and comfort me. That has helped me become stronger to overcome the difficulties in my 24-year journey with football,” Tinh confided.

Nguyen Quang Tinh has patiently trained hard to wear the colors of U13, U15, U17, U19, U21 and the first team of Song Lam Nghe An. During his professional career at Vinh Stadium since V.League 2007, Quang Tinh has achieved many titles, including the 2010 National Cup Championship, 2011 V.League Championship, 2011 National Super Cup with coach Huu Thang. In 2015, Quang Tinh was the captain of the Nghe team when coach Quang Truong first led the first team.

During his career, player Nguyen Quang Tinh has achieved many achievements. Notably, he won the V.League Championship Cup (2011) and the National Cup (2010 and 2011). Photo: NVCC

He had some brilliant moments on the field that many football lovers still remember. Typically in the match betweenLam River Nghe Anand Hoang Anh Gia Lai in round 13 of V.League 2019, after being put on the field, in addition to creating the play as a midfielder, Quang Tinh made an extremely smart move, receiving a pass from his teammate and volleying to raise the score to 2-0 for the home team Song Lam Nghe An. Quang Tinh's goal was later ranked in the top 5 most beautiful goals of round 13, highly appreciated by experts and fans.

There are still regrets

Despite his excellence, Nguyen Quang Tinh has had a difficult career and many regrets. The most regrettable thing is that despite his high achievements, Tinh has never been called up to the National Team. At times, injuries and inexperienced planning of his youth have caused Quang Tinh's career to face many setbacks.

After years of devoting his youth to football, in recent years, Nguyen Quang Tinh has put aside his professional playing plans and completed the AFC C-license Coaching course.

Putting aside his plans to compete professionally, Nguyen Quang Tinh now devotes all his heart to spreading his passion for football to young children. Photo: NVCC

Now, he focuses on the main goal of training and spreading the passion for playing football to children in the province. His 3 training centers established in Vinh city, Nam Dan district and Thanh Chuong district have attracted hundreds of children to participate. Perhaps the children's trust in him is the greatest joy he has.

Looking back on 24 years of playing football, the midfielder born in 1988 always considers it a wonderful journey of youth. Even though there were times of stumbling and difficulties, he was able to live true to his passion and create his own value./.