Dang Phuoc Anh: The futsal player with the highest income in Vietnam

Becoming the first Vietnamese futsal player to play abroad, Dang Phuoc Anh currently enjoys a much higher salary than his teammates on the national team. He also owns a huge collection of titles. But to be able to pursue the round ball until now, Phuoc Anh had to work hard, struggle and struggle with life...

Phuoc Anh (right) with the Silver Plate for the 2013 Asian Club Cup winning team

RENTING A HOUSE, DINING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY

Exactly 1 year after starting his career in futsal with Thai Son Nam, Phuoc Anh won his first prestigious title: Best Goalkeeper of the 2010 Southeast Asian Futsal Tournament. That success helped the goalkeeper nicknamed “Bear” to be noticed by many teams in the region. And after the 2012 Southeast Asian Futsal Tournament, Phuoc Anh was asked to be bought by Chonburi Club. This was very surprising because Chonburi is considered the “galaxy” of Thai futsal (for a long time).futsalThe land of golden temples is a major power in the region and continent.

Returning to Chonburi, Phuoc Anh received a salary of 1,600 USD/month. This is a record number for a futsal player in Vietnam. Coming to Thailand, Phuoc Anh faced many difficulties, from finding accommodation, eating, living and especially language barriers. “In Chonburi, players do not live together. Only during training sessions or matches do everyone come. Players in the team all have their own houses. When I arrived, the team leader took me to rent a house for about 3 million VND/month. As for food, I had to pay for it myself, I often ate out. The food in Thailand is delicious and cheap, so I still saved money to send home to help my family,” Phuoc Anh shared. As for the language problem, Phuoc Anh had to learn Thai on his own and after 1 year in a foreign country, this goalkeeper was able to communicate and sometimes even acted as an “interpreter” for players in the Vietnamese team when they went to the Land of Golden Pagodas to compete.

THE KING WITHOUT A THRONES

For players playing 11-a-side in Vietnam, the dream of reaching the continental level and playing abroad is a luxury. But in futsal, Phuoc Anh has done that miracle. In his first season playing for Chonburi, Phuoc Anh and the team won the Thai League 2012. Remember, Phuoc Anh is the only "foreign player" in the team that has won the Thai futsal championship 4 times. Notably, last August, he became the first Vietnamese futsal player to win the Asian Club Cup finals in Chonburi's colors. Winning many titles, Phuoc Anh is considered the "uncrowned king" of the Vietnamese futsal team.

This year, he has turned 30 years old, but Phuoc Anh still maintains high performance and is an irreplaceable pillar of the team.futsal vietnam“In Southeast Asia, Thailand is a very strong team, but I still hope that one day we will be the top futsal team in the region and further, enter the Top 5 of Asia. I dream like that because Vietnam has many good futsal players, the movement is developing strongly throughout the country,” Phuoc Anh confided.

MR. TRAN ANH TU, HEAD OF VIETNAM FUTSAL DELEGATION:

"Phuoc Anh is a shining example"

“Phuoc Anh used to play football in the 11-a-side field but then switched to futsal and soon became successful, becoming the number one goalkeeper in the national team. I think his determination is very great and admirable. Even when he went abroad to play with a high income, Phuoc Anh was still very modest and sociable with everyone when he returned to wear the national team jersey. With Phuoc Anh standing in the goal, the whole team feels very secure!”

ABOUT DANG PHUOC ANH

Year of birth: 1983

Place of birth: Ho Chi Minh City

Height: 1m73

Weight: 82kg

Clubs played for: Ho Chi Minh City Police (1998-2002), Dong A Bank (2002-2006), Thai Son Nam (2009-2012); Chonburi (2012 to present).

Achievements: Best goalkeeper of the National U21 tournament of Thanh Nien newspaper (2002); Best goalkeeper of Southeast Asia (2010); Runner-up of the Southeast Asia futsal tournament with the Vietnam National Team in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012; champion of the Thai League 2013, champion of the Asian Club Cup 2013