Love and pride

(Baonghean) - There is a saying that "love someone not because they are special but because they bring a special feeling to our hearts". The same goes for fans of Nghe An, SLNA may not always have special victories but always know how to bring special feelings to its fans. That feeling is called "pride of Nghe An!".

Fans cheer for SLNA team in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo:PV

To me, SLNA is passion, eternal love. It is a love that comes naturally without any pressure, and sometimes explanations become redundant, one sentence is not enough, one page cannot express all the pride. Love is simply love!

Sometimes love is simply because they like a certain player, there are also people who love just because of the history with players who have become legends of national football such as: Huu Thang, Sy Hung, Quang Truong... For me, "where love begins" is the moments of tackling of former central defender Huu Thang, or the skillful dribbling of former striker Van Sy Hung in the 90s... And love also grows over the years and follows me until now. I also can't remember how many times I shed tears of joy over the years when SLNA won.

I also cannot forget the pain every time my "love" fails or stumbles. And then, I know that my life will never be without the image of the "warriors" in yellow shirts named Song Lam Nghe An! The victories, the championship cups and the legends who became famous from the "fire pan of Vinh" will forever be the sweet songs in my heart, and yours - the loyal fans of the hometown team. Fans will always remember the bursting images, the choked tears when coach Huu Thang and his team lifted the V-League championship trophy after 10 years of waiting at the "fire pan of Vinh" in 2011. And over the past 4 years, Nghe An fans have had many hopes and then been painfully disappointed when SLNA failed, when the financial constraints have not been overcome and the "bleeding" of talent continues...

Cong Vinh, Trong Hoang, Hoang Thinh, Quang Tinh... who left the word "idols" in the hearts of Nghe An fans have all left one by one. Fans are regretful, heartbroken and worried about the future of the team, but they are "powerless" to swallow their tears, waiting and hoping for new joys "when the birds return"... SLNA still has Phi Son, Nguyen Manh, Ngoc Hai... who will continue to walk on the path with love, and the trust of fans is always unchanged over time. There are still talented Nghe An people with fiery playing style, there are still picky but loyal fans who want to be a part of the team, their own and unique. That is the special thing of SLNA that is not easy for any team to have.

Nghe An fans in Ho Chi Minh City cheer for the SLNA team.

No one can deny that Nghe An fans have, are and will always have sacred and immortal feelings for their hometown team. Because SLNA is a special pride. Although we know that SLNA is making fans live in doubts about its poor seasons. But Nghe An fans have never turned their backs on the team. The image of one of the most loyal fans, Mr. Tran Cao Nghia, traveling nearly 3,000 km/round trip by motorbike from Ho Chi Minh City to Nghe An and vice versa, with the hope that SLNA fans will continue to burn out with the team is one of the most convincing proofs of that loyalty.

However, there were times when fans "boycotted" the team, the forums were also seething with negative doubts about the team and it seemed that the "love affair" would no longer be as passionate as before. But, in the most desperate moments, Nghe An people realized that it was time to fan the fire, their proud passion. That is the priceless asset that SLNA has. That is the difference between Nghe An fans and fans of other teams in V-League. That fire burns with all their passion, without calculation to save the team in the most difficult times. That priceless thing is enough for Nghe An football to still exist for decades and become a big brand, despite financial difficulties but never making fans worry about relegation. An invisible force in the stands always makes all teams coming to Vinh Stadium always have to endure great pressure before thinking about overcoming the home team.

People ask what is the core factor that makes Nghe An fans so passionate and loyal to their team? The answer is simple but meaningful, it is the spirit of community solidarity imbued with Nghe An that always flows in the veins of each person. We love our hometown team, love the players who have been and are committed to this land of sunshine and wind, not because the team is strong or has expensive foreign strikers. The value of Nghe An fans is not something that falls from the sky, nor is it something that money can buy. The enthusiasm of fans comes from the love for the yellow team. And conversely, SLNA is always the pride of the people of Nghe An! SLNA is beautiful in its competitive spirit, fiery playing style in each match. It is also beautiful in the desire to prove itself, the efforts and striving of the players.

And sometimes, the root of the love that fans have for SLNA is simply because of “love for Nghe An people”. In his entry, Mr. Dinh Thanh Trung (Central Economic Committee) wrote: “Nghe An has become a part of me. Even though I am a Hanoian, living in Hanoi. Is that feeling “love”? No, it is something even higher than that. That feeling has left a deep mark in my heart for a long time. Growing up, because of that feeling, I admired SLNA”.

And for many people, SLNA is “not just a football team” but also “More than a lover”. Author Le Thanh Hung in Chi Khe (Con Cuong) wrote: “Needless to say, for the people of Nghe An, the name Song Lam Nghe An is both sacred and very familiar. Me too, for me SLNA is not only the name of a football team headquartered in my hometown, but also a “lover” that I have been infatuated with for the past 21 years...”.

Or for a fan who is past the age of “thất thập cổ lai ra” like Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quy Dy, that love is “fueled” by his own grandson, and then, that lecturer of the Mathematics department came up with an “equation” that “The condition for being divisible by 11… is loving football”.

It is these seemingly simple things that make every Nghe An native, no matter where they are, proud of their homeland. Because that place not only has national heroes, or a famous land of learning, a place imbued with loving Ho Vi and Giam melodies, but that place also has the SLNA football team with its powerful influence reaching deep into the hearts of fans. The love for that team does not only come from the stands, they are not only the "12th players" but now, it is being proven, demonstrated, and expressed through the articles in the contest "Song Lam Nghe An - Pride of Nghe An". That is the biggest motivation for SLNA to always know what it needs to do to respond to that loyalty and eternal pride!

Kim Thuy