Nguyen Trong Hoang: "The strange flower and rare herb" of Vietnamese football
(Baonghean.vn) - It is difficult to list 5 full-backs in the world who are as versatile in attack and defense as Trong Hoang. Being versatile is because Trong Hoang plays with both feet as one, passing and crossing the ball with both left and right feet are both extremely standard.
In 2007, just joining SLNA's first team, Trong Hoang was the youngest player on the team to be named in coach Alfred Riedl's preparation plan for the 24th SEA Games. However, at the last minute, he had to leave the team because he had to take the high school graduation exam.
Being good at football, educated and trained strictly by his family, Hoang "cow" studied very well, graduating from high school with 48 points/6 subjects. Before that, he had to postpone his high school exam because he was called to join the training camp by coach Calisto. At the age of 18, Trong Hoang is an indispensable factor in the club, in the youth teams, just like Doan Van Hau now.
In 2009, coach Calisto led the U23 team to Laos to play in the SEA Games, Trong Hoang was number 10 in the 4-2-3-1 formation. Unfortunately, in the final match, Trong Hoang had just returned from injury so he could not defeat Malaysia.
Since then, Trong Hoang has been known as a top-class false striker of the Vietnam National Team. The task that coach Calisto assigned to Hoang "cow" was to play as an attacking midfielder, making passes into the armpits and between pairs of defenders. And sometimes, Trong Hoang dribbled the ball straight into the middle and then finished or launched powerful long-range shots from the second line.
The goals against Kuwait, Qatar, Myanmar and Malaysia back then all came from situations like that. Trong Hoang's scoring style is very instinctive and very unique.
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| Trong Hoang in SLNA shirt. Photo: Lam Thoa |
There is some controversy about which foot Trong Hoang is better at, in fact Trong Hoang is better at left foot but can play well with both feet. That is a comprehensive ability that at this time only Phan Van Duc has.
Trong Hoang can dribble the ball diagonally into the middle, can pull the ball to the right and shoot, can also push the ball to the left and shoot. For example, the goal against Malaysia at the AFF Cup 2016. Any defender in the world would be afraid to face these situations.
Trong Hoang is versatile in that he can play as a central midfielder, a winger, or a striker. And at the AFF Cup and Asian Cup, Hoang played for the first time as a full-back in a 5-4-1 formation or a variation of the 3-4-3.
Trong Hoang just attacked, fought, fell down and immediately stood up to defend. Among the players who grew up in SLNA, Hoang "cow" is the strongest, ranked with Truong "buffalo". Remember that Trong Hoang once suffered a very serious injury while playing for Binh Duong, but thanks to his good physique, surgery, he recovered quickly to return to the field.
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| Trong Hoang in a dispute with a Jordanian player. Photo: Duc Dong |
In the match against Jordan, Trong Hoang once had a dispute with his opponent, and the Jordanian player fell down because he was at a disadvantage. It was a legal dispute because Trong Hoang was stronger, but the referee blew the whistle. Seeing Hoang “cow”’s very cute reaction of squeezing the ball with both hands and bringing it to his mouth for a kiss, Hoang is truly a model of character.
Trong Hoang is also comprehensive in tactical thinking and positioning. According to some football experts, playing in a 5-defender formation, the full-back must think a lot. Coach Park's way of playing is that the right-sided center-back (or left-sided center-back) will rush up to cover the opponent's striker (midfielder), when that gap is revealed. Mr. Park requires the full-back to pull back and shrink to fill that space. Thanks to his good physical strength and good tactical thinking, Trong Hoang has done this very well.
After 12 years of playing at the top level, since V.League 2007, Trong Hoang knows when to hold the ball and pass it quickly. Normally, players playing on the wings often pass the ball in a pattern, stretching the ball inside with many points of contact.
However, in the match against Jordan, Trong Hoang's pass to Cong Phuong was not lucky at all. There was only one gap between the two central defenders, allowing Cong Phuong to run forward alone. After only half a second, Trong Hoang observed and then made the pass.
| Dangerous passes created by Trong Hoang for his teammates. Video: Compilation |
The combination between Trong Hoang and Tien Linh in the match against Cambodia (AFF Cup 2018) or the goal against Jordan were very high-class moves, one could say world-class. Not many players can see such a narrow gap, such a fragile opportunity.
From an attacking player with the ability to make a difference, Trong Hoang is now a “super” defender of the Vietnam National Team. After winning almost all the titles of a professional player, at the age of 30, Trong Hoang discovered another position he is good at. Isn’t that “strange and strange”?
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