List of out-of-province players who have played for SLNA

Thanh Hung• May 5, 2020 19:45

(Baonghean.vn)- With the tradition of old bamboo and new shoots, throughout its history, SLNA has almost always used players from Nghe An. However, there are still many players from other provinces who have played quite successfully for SLNA.

Dinh Van Dung (Thanh Hoa)

Coach Dinh Van Dung. Photo: Archive

In 1985, Mr. Dung "Thanh Hoa" joined Song Lam Nghe Tinh (former name of SLNA) from the Military Zone 4 team. This was the first foreign player to play for the Nghe An team. During his 10 years playing for the Vinh Stadium team, former player Dinh Van Dung was always highly regarded by former coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh. During his playing days, Mr. Dinh Van Dung played as a midfielder and often wore the number 9 shirt. After retiring from his playing career, former midfielder Dinh Van Dung was retained by SLNA to be in charge of youth training.

Nguyen Van Dung (Nam Dinh)

TFew of the current generation of SLNA fans know that in the past, the Nghe An team had the service of former player Nguyen Van Dung, a former striker who won the title of Top Scorer at the National Championship 4 times. The 1991 season was the first and only season that Mr. Dung from Nam Dinh played for SLNA, alongside young teammates Nguyen Huu Thang, Phan Thanh Tuan, Van Sy Hung... Currently, Nguyen Van Dung is the "captain" of the Nam Ha Nam Dinh Pharmaceutical Club, a team playing in the V.League arena.

Nguyen Quoc Trung (Nam Dinh)

It was not until the 1995 season that the Nghe An team had another face from "Thanh Nam", that was former goalkeeper Nguyen Quoc Trung. During this period, SLNA was in a "goalkeeper crisis" when former goalkeeper Nguyen Xuan Thuy (Thuy "ngheo") had retired from playing, and former goalkeeper Nguyen Xuan Vinh (Vinh "Ba") was also preparing to "hang up his gloves". Nguyen Quoc Trung's most impressive achievement in the SLNA jersey was the Bronze Medal at the 1996 National Championship. At the end of the 1997 season, Nguyen Quoc Trung returned to play for his hometown team.

Vo Van Hanh (Phu Yen)

During a training trip in Phu Yen (1998), SLNA discovered the talent of former goalkeeper Vo Van Hanh by chance. Thanks to his impressive performance in a training session with the Nghe An team, the former goalkeeper born in 1974 caught the eye of former coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh. The reward for Vo Van Hanh was a professional contract. Not letting down the trust of the SLNA coaching staff, Vo Van Hanh played extremely well and contributed greatly to the noble titles of the Nghe An team, typically the 2001 V.League championship.

Former goalkeeper Vo Van Hanh. Photo: ST

Dang Quoc Cuong (Thanh Hoa)

Although he won the National Championship with SLNA in 2000, V.League 2001... the former Thanh Hoa player was only a backup for the killer duo Van Sy Hung - Van Sy Thuy and then the foreign strikers. The strong point in the playing style of former striker Dang Quoc Cuong is his ability to sweep. It is known that the former player often wore the number 21 shirt of SLNA in the late 90s of the last century to the early 2000s and is currently living abroad.

Ho Ngoc Luan (Hue)

Nguyen Ngoc Luan.

Center back Ho Ngoc Luan moved to the field at the beginning of the 2011 season from Hue Football Club, the hometown team of SLNA Chairman Nguyen Hong Thanh. At the Nghe An team, the former player born in 1986 was occasionally put on the field by former coach Nguyen Huu Thang, whenever Nguyen Huy Hoang or Nguyen Hoang Helio were absent. After 2 seasons playing for SLNA, Ho Ngoc Luan won 2 noble titles: the 2011 V.League championship and the 2011 National Super Cup championship. At the end of the 2012 season, Ho Ngoc Luan left SLNA to join HAGL.

Nguyen Huynh Quoc Cuong (Long An)

Living the life of a “redundant” at The Vissai Ninh Binh Club, the former goalkeeper born in 1982 suddenly received an invitation from former coach Nguyen Huu Thang. Immediately, Nguyen Huynh Quoc Cuong packed his bags and went to Vinh city to join Nguyen Huy Hoang and his teammates. Thanks to the excellent performance of the former goalkeeper from Long An, the Nghe An team overcame Ha Noi T&T (now Ha Noi Club) to win the 2011 V.League championship, with 3 more points (49 compared to 46).

Cựu thủ môn Nguyễn Huỳnh Quốc Cường. Ảnh: TT&VH

Former goalkeeper Nguyen Huynh Quoc Cuong. Photo: TT&VH

Nguyen Cuu Phu (Hue)

Moving to Vinh Stadium at the beginning of the 2012 season from Kien Long Bank Kien Giang, former player Nguyen Cuu Phu was expected to help SLNA's left wing become more solid and dangerous. However, at the Nghe An team, the former left-back from Hue rarely played in his favorite position, because he could not compete with former national team player Tran Dinh Dong. At the end of the 2013 season, Nguyen Cuu Phu quietly left Nghe An. Since then, there has not been another player from Hue wearing the SLNA shirt.

With only 8 non-native faces who have played for SLNA so far, it can be seen that the source of players in Nghe An is extremely abundant, in the style of "old bamboo, young bamboo grows". Only "in extreme cases" does the Vinh Stadium team recruit players from other localities.

In Vietnam, no professional club has been able to do as well as SLNA in terms of the "concentration" of native players in the squad, throughout history./.

Thanh Hung