Challenges for 'people without lungs'

(Baonghean) - Extending his contract with his hometown team for another 3 years, but a meniscus injury in the match against HN.T&T has caused Dinh Hoang to miss almost the entire second leg of the 2016 V.League season. Although he was still favored by Huu Thang to be called into the national team, preparing for the 2016 AFF Cup, with his injury not fully recovered, Dinh Hoang will have to face many difficulties.

When letting Hoang Thinh, Dinh Dong and Quang Tinh go, SLNA had high hopes for experienced players like Dinh Hoang. But unfortunately, constant injuries could not help Dinh Hoang have the best physical condition to play. Throughout the entire 2016 season, people did not see Hoang appear much. In some matches when he played in the starting lineup, Hoang was not himself, if not to say he made mistakes.

It is a pity for SLNA because if he had played at his best, Dinh Hoang would have made a huge contribution to the team in the context of many key players having left. On the contrary, many people also feel sorry for Dinh Hoang, because if he had not suffered an injury, he could have completely risen to assert his position more firmly in the Nghe An team.

Dinh Hoang (left) in SLNA club jersey. Photo: Duc Dung

In early 2016, after “tying down” Nguyen Manh, SLNA continued to get Dinh Hoang’s signature. This full-back agreed to stay with his hometown team for another 3 years. That means, in terms of mentality, there are no more worries, and Dinh Hoang only needs to focus on contributing to his hometown team. However, a meniscus injury in the match against HN.T&T caused Dinh Hoang to almost disappear in the second half of the season.

And Hoang would have had little chance of being called up to the national team, because in this position, there are many options. However, coach Huu Thang still prioritized and included this favorite student in the list of players to gather for the national team, preparing for the AFF Cup taking place at the end of next year. This favoritism is easy for everyone to recognize, because when he was still the coach at SLNA, Huu Thang really liked Dinh Hoang's style and always had special priorities.

Hoang has good health, modern playing style, moving up and down the right wing extremely rhythmically. Not too flashy but Dinh Hoang's effectiveness is very great. This defender joined Song Lam "furnace" in 2002 after the Youth and Children's Football Tournament of Nghe An Newspaper Cup. When he was a young player, Dinh Hoang was not too outstanding because his technique was not much better than his friends.

However, the older Dinh Hoang gets, the more he shows that physical strength is important and this defender maximizes it. Blessed by God with an ideal body and especially health, Dinh Hoang has constantly strived to promote those advantages. Since joining the first team in 2012, Dinh Hoang has made his mark and has been called up many times to the U.23 and the Vietnam National Team.

Playing well, Dinh Hoang is a player who has had a hard time with both the national team and the club due to constant injuries. In 2016, when coach Huu Thang called Dinh Hoang to the national team to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers, many people believed that the bad luck was behind this defender. In fact, in the beginning, under Huu Thang's "reign", Dinh Hoang played very well for the national team.

I thought everything was going well, but when he returned to the club and extended his contract for another 3 years, Hoang suffered a serious injury. He missed almost the entire return leg and few people thought he would be called up to the national team. Huu Thang had faith in him, but with his injury not fully recovered, the challenge for this player from Hung Nguyen district was not small. In the first days of the national team's preparation for the AFF Cup, Dinh Hoang had to practice separately. Up to this point, although he has somewhat caught up with his teammates, with his injury not fully recovered and a long time without playing, it is not easy for Dinh Hoang to show himself.

I just hope that from now until the AFF Cup starts, Hoang will recover 100% and show his ability thanks to his strong desire and will.

Vinh Liem