The sadness of the 'forever young' player

The story of “forever young” talents like Thanh Hung, Cao Cuong or Ha Minh Tuan is not uncommon in Vietnamese football in recent years. Saying “forever young” is not because they maintain their youth on the field for a long time, but because although they are no longer considered young, they are still not truly mature and grown up in terms of their careers.

Ha Minh Tuan (31) has not really matured even though there was a time when he was considered the successor of Huynh Duc (left). Photo: VSI

Five years ago, Cao Cuong was considered by coach Henrique Calisto to be the number one central defender when the Vietnam U23 team gathered in Hanoi to prepare for the 25th SEA Games in 2009 in Laos. However, for various reasons, one of which was an important reason being professionalism, Cao Cuong was eventually eliminated from the list of players attending the SEA Games at the last minute.

Unlike Cao Cuong, Thanh Hung was a key player for the U23 Vietnam team from the preparation stage until the tournament, and a year later, Thanh Hung was still trusted by coach Calisto to join the Vietnam team to participate in the AFF Cup 2010, but problems off the field made Thanh Hung no longer himself, so this midfielder lost his position at SHB.Da Nang and was forced to return to Quang Nam to rebuild his career.

As for Ha Minh Tuan, it is a completely different story from his two seniors Cao Cuong and Minh Phuong, as the habit of using foreign strikers by V-League teams has contributed to limiting the opportunities for young domestic strikers to play, and Ha Minh Tuan is a typical example.

Ha Minh Tuan possesses almost all the necessary qualities of a good striker, but what this striker lacks is probably the opportunity to play as well as the trust of the coach. With the heavy pressure of performance from a team that is always considered a candidate for the V-League championship like SHB.Da Nang, coach Le Huynh Duc can hardly sacrifice 1/3 or ½ of the season to create opportunities for Ha Minh Tuan to mature.

Meanwhile, in SHB.Da Nang in recent years, the most famous strikers of the Han River team have all been foreigners, from Almeida in the past to Gaston Merlo in the future, and the wing-crossing header tactic that has become a trademark in SHB.Da Nang's V-League is mainly to serve strikers like Almeida or Merlo. Therefore, domestic strikers like Ha Minh Tuan have almost no chance to play, and if they do get to play, they have to accept playing on the left wing, which is not their forte.

In such a context, it is not surprising that Ha Minh Tuan cannot rise to become a truly classy striker of Vietnamese football. We all know that in the current V-League, even the striker considered the number one of Vietnamese football like Cong Vinh sometimes has to play on the wing to make room for a pair of foreign strikers, let alone a young player who has not yet established his brand like Ha Minh Tuan.

From the cases of Cao Cuong, Thanh Hung and Ha Minh Tuan, it can be seen that a player who wants to affirm his name and position in V-League cannot only rely on talent but also must have a suitable environment, and most importantly, must have enough determination to rise up even in the most difficult circumstances, otherwise, throughout his career, that player may not be able to escape the haunting nightmare of "forever young".

According to TTVH