Phan Van Duc: From SLNA to a "card" in the hands of coach Park Hang-seo

From Vinh Stadium…

Born in 1996 in Yen Thanh district (Nghe An), Phan Van Duc joined the SLNA training center in 2007. Like most players who grew up from the SLNA training center, Duc "tiger" had to go through years of training and competing for the SLNA U11, U13, U15, U17, U19 and U21 teams. Phan Van Duc's most impressive achievement in youth tournaments was the 2012 National U17 Championship.

Recognizing Phan Van Duc's potential and continuous progress, at the end of 2015, SLNA's board of directors decided to promote him to the first team. In the 2016 V.League, the player from Yen Thanh only played a total of 11 times and did not score any goals. Things became brighter for Phan Van Duc in the following season 2017. In the V.League arena, Duc "tiger" played in 18/26 matches and scored 4 goals for the Nghe team.

Phan Van Duc has been making constant progress in SLNA's shirt. Photo: Archive

However, the 2017 National Cup was the tournament where Phan Van Duc made the strongest impression. In the second leg of the final against B.Binh Duong, the former U19 Vietnam player scored a double, helping SLNA beat the visitors with a score of 5-1. Since then, Phan Van Duc has become one of the idols of SLNA fans.

Not having a chance to rest after winning the National Cup, Phan Van Duc and his teammate and close friend Pham Xuan Manh went to Binh Duong to participate in the 2018 National U21 Finals. In this tournament, the "advancing pair" Phan Van Duc - Pham Xuan Manh played excellently, helping U21 SLNA win 3rd place overall. The reward for Duc "tiger"'s efforts was that he was called up to the U21 Thanh Nien Vietnam Newspaper team to participate in the Thanh Nien Newspaper International U21 Tournament.

After only a few days of training and playing for the U21 Thanh Nien Vietnam Newspaper team, the Nghe An player has won the trust of Coach Trinh Duy Quang (U21 Thanh Nien Vietnam Newspaper) and Coach Tran Minh Chien (U19 Vietnam). Thanks to the recommendation of the two coaches above, Phan Van Duc was called up by Coach Park Hang Seo to the U23 Vietnam team to participate in the 2018 AFC U23 Championship.

Not disappointing the trust of coach Park Hang Seo, Duc "tiger" played excellently, contributing significantly to the runner-up position of U23 Vietnam in China. Phan Van Duc's remarkable maturity has helped him to be constantly present in the recent call-ups of U23 Vietnam and the Vietnam National Team. Typically, ASIAD 18. Before joining the Vietnam National Team to participate in the AFF Cup 2018, the player born in 1996 also had a successful season with SLNA. At V.League 2018, Phan Van Duc scored 9 goals for the Vinh Stadium team.

…to My Dinh Stadium

Putting away Nguyen Van Quyet to use Phan Van Duc from the start in the match against the Malaysian team was an extremely bold move by the Korean strategist. During the training trip in the "land of kimchi" before participating in the AFF Cup 2018, Phan Van Duc did not show much in the friendly matches of the Vietnamese team. Most recently, in the match against the Lao team, Duc "tiger" also did not leave any clear impression, even though he was put on the field right at the beginning of the second half.

But coach Park Hang-seo understands his players better than anyone else and his decision has brought about results beyond expectations. With his enthusiastic and intelligent playing style, Phan Van Duc has completed the assigned task quite well. The midfielder from Nghe An has not only played the role of an attacking player but also actively fought for the ball, supporting his teammates in the defense from afar. Thanks to the appearance of Phan Van Duc, the central midfielder pair Luong Xuan Truong - Nguyen Quang Hai has had a lot less trouble.

Phan Van Duc (number 20) was in the starting lineup in the match against the Malaysian team. Photo: Internet

From a smart pass from Duc "Cot", Doan Van Hau had a pass back to Nguyen Anh Duc to finish right in the 16m50 box. The striker wearing the number 11 shirt's shot was inaccurate, the ball found Nguyen Cong Phuong's position and the Malaysian team's net shook in the 14th minute. Not stopping there, in the 60th minute, in a quick counterattack situation of the Vietnamese team, Phan Van Duc had a pass that tore through the Malaysian team's defense, helping Nguyen Anh Duc defeat goalkeeper Khairul Chemat in a face-to-face situation.

Although he only appeared on the field for 60 minutes, Phan Van Duc still made everyone satisfied with what he did in the match against the Malaysian team./.