New milestone of Cong Phuong

(Baonghean) - After a disappointing season with HAGL in the V-League, Cong Phuong was given the opportunity by Mr. Duc to go to Japan to play in the J-League 2. If the two sides reach a personal agreement, Cong Phuong will become the second Vietnamese player to go to Japan to play after Le Cong Vinh.

On September 28, on his personal Facebook page, Cong Phuong shared the status: "Feeling great" and "There are many things to say..." along with a link about the information that he will go to Japan to compete. Immediately, his meaningful status received nearly 25,000 likes and hundreds of shares with wishes for success. According to the information revealed by Mr. Duc to the press, Cong Phuong will join the Mito Hollyhock Club in 2016, with a 1-year contract. Mito Hollyhock currently plays in Japan's J-League 2. This is also the club that was once led by coach Toshiya Miura. It is known that since the U19 Southeast Asian tournament last year, the team playing in Japan's second division has kept an eye on Cong Phuong and Tuan Anh. Witnessing the playing style of the Nghe An player, the people in charge of this club sent people to Vietnam to monitor the performance of Cong Phuong and Tuan Anh in the V-League. Right after the top Vietnamese tournament ended, the Japanese team approached HAGL and received a nod from Mr. Duc.

After Cong Vinh, Cong Phuong is the second Vietnamese player to go to Japan to play.

The fact that a young player of V-League is noticed by Japanese scouts proves many things. For Mr. Duc, he has shown the correctness of his investment strategy when he brought the most expensive player of the academy to play in Japan. Remember, when building the academy, Mr. Duc declared that he would train players to go abroad and now, he has done that. On the other hand, the presence of Cong Phuong in Japan to play will certainly attract the attention of the media and of course, Mr. Duc's Hoang Anh Gia Lai brand will benefit first. For young players of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Cong Phuong's journey is an example for them to dream and strive for. For Vietnamese football, in the context of V-League being stuck in place and overshadowed by the shadow of violence, the fact that Cong Phuong is going to Japan to play is truly a "rose news".

As for Cong Phuong, he has truly risen to a new level. The striker from Nghe An has officially surpassed the "village pond" of V-League, becoming an international player. Cong Phuong has been watched by scouts from Nghe An after winning the Youth - Children's Football Championship with Do Luong Newspaper Cup. This player longed to wear the SLNA shirt, but due to physical reasons, he was not selected. This was also the opportunity for Cong Phuong to become a player of the first generation of HAGL Arsenal JMG Football Academy. Immediately after graduating, Cong Phuong and his peers caused a stir with impressive performances in the colors of U19 Vietnam and U19 HAGL. In the 2014 - 2015 season, Cong Phuong and the U19 players were promoted to play in the V-League. "Mr. Duc's children" from being the golden hope of the tournament became a point warehouse and were mercilessly crushed by other teams. It was not until the final rounds, with the effort to change the coach and some "smelly" matches, that Hoang Anh Gia Lai was rescued to stay in the V-League. It was thought that Cong Phuong would be the trump card in Mr. Duc's strategy to conquer the V-League next season, but surprisingly, he was recruited by a Japanese team.

Four years ago, Le Cong Vinh also went to Japan to play for Sapporo Club in J-League 2. That deal of Cong Vinh was more commercial than purely professional because the team that Cong Vinh played for was the owner of a beer brand that wanted to promote its brand in Vietnam, so Cong Phuong's move to Japan to play had a different meaning. Fans commented that for Cong Phuong, the J-League 2 tournament is probably the ideal environment for him to develop his talent as well as promote the brand of Vietnamese youth football in general, Hoang Anh Gia Lai in particular. This year, Cong Phuong is just over 20 years old, for a player, this is the best time to accumulate skills and experience before having an explosion in the next five years. Being able to play in a professional environment, with players who are better than him in terms of physical strength, technique, and tactics, certainly, Cong Phuong will progress and mature a lot.

J-League 2 is Japan's second-tier league but is no less fierce, gathering the top stars of Asia. Whether Cong Phuong will be a regular player or not is still a matter of the future. However, in the not-so-bright context of the country's football scene, Cong Phuong's recruitment is a good sign. Fans congratulate him and look forward to his shining.

Thuy Linh