Midfielder Tuan Anh: Will he shine?

(Baonghean) - This weekend, with the match between the home team SLNA and HAGL, in addition to Cong Phuong, the audience at Vinh Stadium will have the opportunity to witness another talented player of the U19 team, midfielder Tuan Anh. And fans will surely have an "implicit" comparison between this player and a former "child prodigy" of Vietnamese football - midfielder Phan Nhu Thuat.

For those who follow Vietnamese football in the early 21st century, especially SLNA fans, the name Phan Nhu Thuat leaves many beautiful memories. Born in 1984, Nhu Thuat was in the generation of U16 Vietnam players who defeated U16 China 3-2 to enter the semi-finals of the U16 Asia in 2000 in Da Nang. Although not as famous as Van Quyen, Anh Cuong,... at that time, Nhu Thuat was highly appreciated by experts and was considered a "rare commodity" of Vietnamese football to be able to replace the talented player Hong Son who had retired.

Tuan Anh is the main free kick taker of U19 Vietnam. Photo: Internet

Watching Nhu Thuat play, it is easy to see that this player has a very good technical and tactical foundation. In the youth teams (both club and national) and in the days when he was first promoted to the SLNA first team, Nhu Thuat often had sharp passes that eliminated the entire opponent's defense so that the strikers could score. However, the more he played, the more Thuat's role faded due to his poor physical strength and limited ability to compete. When facing the opponent's central midfielders playing hard, Thuat could not promote his strengths. Besides, this player also did not have the ability to support the defense, which is very "afraid" of modern football. Therefore, Nhu Thuat gradually became "redundant" in SLNA and had to go to Binh Dinh to find a chance to play. In the 2014 season, Nhu Thuat returned to SLNA but did not leave any mark other than the first goal for SLNA on the field of Than Quang Ninh. This season, Thuat is still on the roster of the Nghe An team, but he is rarely put on the field by coach Ngo Quang Truong. Therefore, it will not be surprising if at the end of this season, Nhu Thuat quietly says goodbye to professional football at the age of 31 - a sad ending for a player who was once considered a "child prodigy".

11 years later, Vietnamese football has another player who is also considered a "prodigy" and also plays the midfielder position like Phan Nhu Thuat - midfielder Nguyen Tuan Anh of HAGL. As one of the excellent products of the HAGL JMG training center, this player from Thai Binh played very well in the 2013 Southeast Asian U19 tournament, and was the most impressive Vietnamese U19 player in the 2014 Asian U19 final round. In the first half of V.League 2015, although HAGL played poorly, this midfielder still proved his creativity, skillful technical foundation and sharp vision. He was quickly compared to Minh Phuong and received great expectations from experts. Many people believe that Tuan Anh, not Cong Phuong, is the number one star of HAGL JMG. However, in the U23 shirt at the recent Asian U23 Qualifiers, Tuan Anh disappointed. Under coach Toshiya Miura, after 5 friendly matches and 3 official matches, Tuan Anh did not have a single goal or assist. The more he played, the more he revealed the same limitations as Nhu Thuat before: weak physical strength, poor competition. Even the long-range shots that were once considered his forte did not appear. More importantly, number 8 did not show the ability to integrate with the team and new playing style - the top quality of a professional player.

However, with the foundation of a player who has been trained systematically according to the European football curriculum, if he makes an effort, Tuan Anh can still prove that the 1-month period of concentrating on the U23 team was just a small "low note" in his career. This weekend, at Vinh Stadium, in the midfield area, Tuan Anh will have to face SLNA's fierce and skilled midfielders Hoang Thinh, Quang Tinh or Sy Sam, Khac Ngoc. If he knows how to shine, it is very possible that Tuan Anh will have more motivation to develop his qualities, become a great talent, and contribute to the development of national football.

Mai Anh