Player Nguyen Van Vinh: 'The older the ginger, the spicier it is'

(Baonghean) - In the recent victories of Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA), people often mention the return of Que Ngoc Hai, the excellence of goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh, but ignore a player who has made a quiet but extremely important contribution to the team's playing style, that is midfielder Nguyen Van Vinh.

Vietnam U16 team at the 2000 AFC U16 Championship at Chi Lang Stadium. Photo: Internet

Not playing too brilliantly, but with diligence and a wealth of experience, this player has led the SLNA midfield back to a stable playing style. A sweet return of Van Vinh after many years of wandering when he was in the twilight of his football career.

Strangely, all the articles about him were associated with the word "silence" even at the peak of his career when he was the captain of Hoa Phat Hanoi (HPHN) under coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh.

Nguyen Van Vinh is a name that became famous early with fans, not because he is the nephew of coach Nguyen Van Thinh, but because of his talent. In the same generation as Van Quyen, Nhu Thuat, Minh Duc, Lam Tan... in the U16 Vietnam team that was famous in 2000, but Van Vinh is rarely mentioned because his playing style is not fancy, does not compete for the ball in a fiery way, and does not have breakthroughs or technical turns.

Van Vinh's playing style is to tackle reasonably, observe the ball and pass to teammates as soon as there is an opportunity, always gentle, restrained and on-beat. He became famous early in youth tournaments and was also promoted to SLNA's first team very early, but because at that time SLNA had many good midfielders like Quoc Vuong and Nhu Thuat, Vinh had to wander, from HPHN in the first division to Hanoi Club for nearly ten years, he even considered retiring when Hanoi Club was dissolved.

A phase in the match between SLNA and HN.T&T. Photo: Internet

His personal sacrifice in playing style also made him less noticed, so he did not have the opportunity to wear the national team shirt, although Vinh's expertise and his contribution to the team were always recognized.

In fact, Van Vinh returned to SLNA last season, but at that time, there were still captains Quang Tinh and Hoang Thinh, so Vinh had less opportunity to play. Entering this season, when the pillars of SLNA's midfield left, coach Quang Truong had a headache when assembling and finding solutions for SLNA's midfield. Khac Ngoc, Ngoc Toan... are young players with potential, but experience and courage are things that cannot be acquired overnight.

After 2 defeats, the reluctant experiment with Nguyen Van Vinh was successful. His experience and calm playing style are the shortcomings that SLNA's young midfielders still lack. "The older the ginger, the spicier it is", with Vinh on the field, it can be seen that SLNA's playing style knows how to regulate the rhythm properly and reasonably.

This could be Van Vinh's last season as a player. A successful last season at his hometown team after many years of wandering is a beautiful ending that not every player can have.

Pham Cung Son