The 'owners' of the number 10 shirt at Song Lam Nghe An

In the period from the 90s of the last century to the early 2000s, the number 10 shirt belonged to striker Van Sy Thuy. With the number 10 shirt on his back, the player born in 1974 and SLNA achieved many noble titles. In addition to collective titles such as winning the 2000 National Championship, winning the 2001 V.League or winning the 2002 National Cup, Van Sy Thuy also won the title of Top Scorer at the 2000 National Championship, with a total of 14 goals. Up to now, Van Sy Thuy is the only player of SLNA to win the title of Top Scorer in the most prestigious tournament in Vietnam.

Van Sy Thuy used to own the number 10 shirt for many years. Photo courtesy of Quang Minh

After his senior Van Sy Thuy left SLNA (late 2003), Pham Van Quyen was the one who had the honor of wearing the legendary number 10 shirt. Not disappointing the expectations of the SLNA coaching staff and Nghe An football fans, the player born in 1984 played extremely impressively in 2 consecutive seasons (2004 - 2005). Perhaps, the striker nicknamed "golden boy" is the most outstanding owner of the number 10 shirt of SLNA, throughout more than 4 decades of existence. Unfortunately, at the end of 2005, Pham Van Quyen was involved in a match-fixing case in Bacolod (Philippines) and had to fall into legal trouble.

Pham Van Quyen's imprisonment left SLNA's number 10 shirt ownerless. Entering the 2006 season, the Nghe An coaching board decided to give this shirt to foreign player Achinike. This was the first foreign player to have the honor of wearing the number 10 shirt of the Vinh team. However, Achinike only stayed at SLNA for a short time, because he did not meet professional requirements. At the end of round 4 of V.League 2006, Achinike's contract was terminated by SLNA ahead of schedule. SLNA's number 10 shirt had to be left empty until the end of that season.

When he was playing for SLNA, Pham Van Quyen always wore the number 10 shirt. Photo: Archive

At the beginning of the 2007 season, seeing that none of his teammates had chosen the number 10 shirt, midfielder Oliveira expressed his desire to own it to the SLNA coaching board and was immediately approved. That season, Oliveira did not play very well as a left winger. 2 goals were all the Brazilian player could do for the Nghe An team. Currently, Oliveira is working at the B.Binh Duong Youth Football Training Center, as the head coach of the U19 team.

The next person to wear the number 10 shirt of SLNA in the 2008 season was striker Opara, a former player of Huda Hue. Playing alongside Le Cong Vinh in the forward line, Opara played quite energetically and effectively. In addition to scoring 7 goals for the Nghe An team, Opara also did a good job of stirring up and stretching the opponent's defense to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. Le Cong Vinh's achievement of scoring 11 goals in the 2008 V.League, was largely due to foreign player Opara. That was also the only season Opara played for SLNA.

Entering the 2009 season, the number 10 shirt belonged to Pham Van Quyen. But unlike the previous time, the player from Hung Nguyen no longer “fit” this shirt. The more he played, the more Pham Van Quyen showed his listlessness and lack of energy. “As a last resort”, at the beginning of the 2012 season, the SLNA Board of Directors had to let the former U23 Vietnam striker join Xi Mang Xuan Thanh Sai Gon, on loan. The end of the 2012 season was also the time when Pham Van Quyen’s contract with his hometown team officially expired.

Pham Van Quyen joined The Vissai Ninh Binh, SLNA's number 10 shirt was given to striker Plaza. However, the foreign player who had played for Navibank Saigon for 2 years did not prove much. According to statistics, in V.League 2013, Plaza only scored 4 goals. A very disappointing result. Therefore, the Nghe An team did not keep Plaza to play in the next season, despite the fact that they had sent the Trinidad - Tobago striker to "study" at Navibank Saigon for 2 years.

Tran Phi Son was quite successful with the number 10 shirt. Photo: Archive

Foreign player Plaza left, young midfielder Tran Phi Son is the new owner of the number 10 shirt. In 3 consecutive seasons (2015 - 2017), "Vietnam's Ronaldo" has shown remarkable maturity. The "peanut-roasting" footwork, the fast and agile dribbling of the midfielder from Huong Son (Ha Tinh) has captivated Nghe An football fans. Thanks to the excellence of Tran Phi Son, the number 10 shirt seems to have been revived, after many years of wandering through many different players. It is not an exaggeration to say that, apart from Pham Van Quyen in the period of 2004 - 2005, no other face has "fitted" the number 10 shirt of SLNA like Tran Phi Son.

Ho Tuan Tai has worn the number 10 shirt for the last 3 seasons. Photo courtesy

Since Tran Phi Son left Vinh Stadium (late 2017), the number 10 shirt of the Nghe An team has been owned by striker Ho Tuan Tai, Pham Van Quyen's cousin. To be fair, with what he has done and is doing, the player born in 1995 is completely worthy of the number 10 shirt of SLNA, at least at this time. Hopefully, Ho Tuan Tai will play excellently, contributing to helping his hometown team reap success./.