Nghe An players and coaches in the media "storm"

(Baonghean) - In 2015, although SLNA did not win any more Cups to add to its collection in the trophy room, the players and coaches from Nghe An who are present at SLNA and other teams in the V.League are still the center of attention, "causing a storm" in the mass media.

Cong Phuong - the focus of the media

Cong Phuong is always the focus of the media

Growing up from the Nghe An Newspaper Cup, excelling in the colors of U19 HAGL and U19 Vietnam, Cong Phuong and his teammates were brought straight to play in the V.League by Mr. Duc. On the first day of participating in the highest football tournament in Vietnam, Cong Phuong and his teammates lived like a dream, wherever he went, he "sold out tickets", "broke the stadium", and was compared by the media as "a strange wind", "new vitality" in the V.League... But then "the happy days were short-lived", Cong Phuong and his teammates were quickly "played out of hatred" by other teams, he did not have much room to show off his talent but was always "cut down" every time he took the field. As a result, Cong Phuong's team was almost relegated. Before that, Cong Phuong was also scrutinized by some newspapers and radio stations about his private life with the purpose of "sensationalizing and attracting audiences". With the trick "Finding Cong Phuong's real age", there were days when the number of reporters present in My Son (Do Luong) was even more than the commune officials. Cong Phuong’s parents and neighbors were also exhausted from receiving guests who came to… ask about Cong Phuong’s age. The incident only ended when the Ministry of Information and Communications issued a decision to administratively punish the agency that gave false information about Cong Phuong’s age.

Cong Phuong faces his hometown team at V.League 2015

After “escaping” HAGL in the V.League and the scrutiny of public opinion, Cong Phuong shone at the 2015 Thanh Nien Newspaper International U21 Tournament. In the final match against U21 Korea, the Nghe An striker scored a beautiful goal to end the tournament with 5 goals and won a double of individual titles: Best Player of the Tournament and Top Scorer. 2015 ended for Cong Phuong with a “dream-like” event, he was invited by Mito Hollyhock Football Club of the Land of the Rising Sun - a football powerhouse in Asia - to sign a contract to play. The fact that Cong Phuong, a young Vietnamese player, moved to Japan to play was a memorable event for the country’s football. In the last days of the year, the news of Cong Phuong’s arrival in Japan became the main topic of newspapers and sports programs, attracting much attention from fans.

Ngoc Hai - the reluctant hero

Once a teammate of Cong Phuong in U23 Vietnam, Que Ngoc Hai was a "favorite student", trusted by head coach Miura to be the captain of U23 Vietnam to "fight east and north" in major tournaments in 2015. Ngoc Hai was the "steel shield" that helped U23 Vietnam to participate in the U23 Asian Finals for the first time. When the 2015 season was about to end, in a "no reward, no penalty" match between SLNA and Da Nang, Que Ngoc Hai made an unnecessary rough tackle, breaking the leg of defender Anh Khoa. He became the focus of public criticism, people speculated that "the iron-cutting style of play" was reappearing in SLNA and needed to be severely punished to deter other players. Ngoc Hai became a "case study", he was suspended by VFF and forced to compensate nearly 1 billion VND for Anh Khoa's treatment.

From his rough tackle, Ngoc Hai became the "unwilling hero" that made VFF change the rules.

Stuck with this heavy penalty, Que Ngoc Hai once thought about retiring. The heavy penalty for Que Ngoc Hai became the focus of public discussion about the unprofessionalism of Vietnamese football. Finally, under pressure from public opinion, the Vietnam Football Federation had to amend the law and buy insurance for all players participating in professional football tournaments. Many people compared Que Ngoc Hai to a "hero" who changed the rules of Vietnamese football. But "the pen falls, the chicken dies", he still had to pay Anh Khoa enough money. Luckily, thanks to Mr. Duc's intervention, SLNA fans' contribution and the sponsor's agreement to "disburse", Ngoc Hai had enough money to "pay the fine". The incident ended with the saddest image of 2015 in Vietnamese football when SLNA coach Duc Thang and Ngoc Hai carried a backpack of money to Anh Khoa's house for SHB Da Nang to count.

Huu Thang – “The Coach of Rumors”

Preparing for the 2015 season, not satisfied with the “living on the edge” of the SLNA team because the main sponsor only invested in small amounts and only disbursed according to responsibility. With the mentality of being the head coach but not being able to decide on personnel, at the end of each season, he was helpless to see the talents of the team leave. The team only existed for the sake of existence without a strategy or a certain goal. The sponsor was eager to withdraw to “free up debt”.

The relationship between Coach Huu Thang and Vinh Stadium has ended. There have been many rumors that Coach Huu Thang will follow his students to teams with stronger economic potential. At times, it seemed that Huu Thang would land in Binh Duong, when many news and articles from some newspapers confirmed "as if it were a nail" that Huu Thang had a meeting with the leaders of Dat Thu football team to finalize the contract. There were also articles that said that in order for Huu Thang to miss SLNA less, in addition to the strategy of attracting young talents from Nghe An such as Cong Vinh, Trong Hoang, Van Hoan, Van Binh... Binh Duong also painted the entire B stand of Go Dau Stadium yellow like the color of SLNA's jersey, so that Huu Thang would be inspired to lead the team known as the Chelsea of ​​Vietnam.

During a year away from football, the name Huu Thang always appeared in the newspapers because he was predicted to become the head coach of many football teams.

By the end of the 2015 season, rumors were spreading again: Huu Thang was about to become the captain of FLC Thanh Hoa, because the neighboring team from Nghe An invited SLNA's pillars Hoang Thinh, Dinh Dong... to join the team, and in the list of coaches that the Thanh team was interested in, preparing for the ambition to conquer V.league, only Huu Thang was worthy.

But in the end, it was all just a rumor because Huu Thang has not yet led any team after leaving SLNA. But perhaps, deeper down, the coach considered a symbol of Nghe An football has not been able to break up with his hometown team, to lead another team to fight against SLNA. And in the early days of 2016, Huu Thang is becoming the most promising candidate among the domestic coaches chosen by VFF to be the head coach of the national team.

Go "dye yellow" and then laugh

After Huu Thang retired, a series of key players left, SLNA was like a "headless snake", in that context, Quang Truong "took the lead" as SLNA's head coach in the 2015 season. For the first time in charge of the V.League, with a squad of young, inexperienced players, but under the guidance of "Truong buffalo", SLNA impressed with resounding away victories to win all 3 titles of the best player of the month. Excited by the performance of the home team, every time SLNA played somewhere, the stands of the stadiums there were "dyed yellow", even Nghe An fans from all regions organized a grand parade to celebrate as if SLNA had won the V.League.

In any match involving SLNA, Nghe An fans always participate in cheering enthusiastically.

But while having "win like cutting bamboo", SLNA also managed to insert "suspicious" losses against opponents who were thirsty for points and were rated lower in terms of expertise. The climax was the loss to HAGL at the end of the season that became the "last straw", causing tens of thousands of Nghe An fans to be "speechless" when witnessing what coach Ngo Quang Truong and his team performed. On the SLNA fan forum, slogans appeared demanding a boycott of the team, while others, more calmly, said: "I don't understand what's happening on the field anymore. We traveled hundreds of kilometers to cheer the team up here, but at this point, we can only laugh bitterly...".

But there are also matches where SLNA "incomprehensibly loses" making fans disappointed.

“Angry then angry, love then love”, overcoming all public opinion and media storms in 2015, Nghe An players, coaches, and fans always turn to their hometown team and always believe that “tomorrow the sky will be brighter”, because Nghe An football potential is likened to “the Lam River, never to be dried up”.

Entering the new 2016 season, Nghe An fans hope SLNA will reap more success.

Article and photos:Duc Chuyen