Outstanding young goalkeeper from Nghe An and the gift for his grandfather

Proud collection of titles

Born in 2007 in a Tho ethnic family in Giai Xuan commune (Tan Ky), since primary school, Nguyen Bao Ngoc has shown the qualities of an excellent goalkeeper. Shining in primary school football at the Phu Dong Sports Festival at the district and cluster levels in late 2017 and early 2018, Nguyen Bao Ngoc was called by Coach Mai Thai Uy of the Center for Culture - Information and Communication of Tan Ky district to join the district's Children's Team to participate in the Youth - Children's Football Tournament of Nghe An Newspaper Cup in 2018.

In that year's tournament, although Nhi Dong Tan Ky was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Nhi Dong Yen Thanh (the team that won the championship that year) after a penalty shootout, Ngoc was still one of the outstanding players of the tournament, selected to join the training center of Song Lam Nghe An Club.

Up to now, although only 15 years old, Bao Ngoc has had a collection of impressive collective achievements: Champion of the National Children's Championship in 2018; Runner-up of the National U13 Championship in 2019 (in the U13 QHSLF Thanh Vinh jersey - the team considered the U13 SLNA version 2 that year); Champion of the National U13 Championship in 2020, Champion of the National U15 Championship in 2022 and Third place of the National U17 Championship in 2022.

Goalkeeper Nguyen Bao Ngoc (second from left) received the Best Goalkeeper award at the National U15 Finals. Photo: NVCC

Regarding individual titles, in the 3 youth tournaments that Bao Ngoc participated in in 2020 and 2022 in the SLNA jersey, he won the title of "Best Goalkeeper". Notably, at the 2022 National U17 Tournament, despite being one of the youngest players, Ngoc was also the Best Goalkeeper, and right after the tournament, he was called up to the National U17 Team to prepare for the U17 Asian Qualifiers. In addition, Nguyen Bao Ngoc also won the title of "Good at playing football, good at studying" at the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth - Children's Football Tournament in 2018.

Nguyen Bao Ngoc in the U17 SLNA jersey. Photo: NVCC

Coach Le Van Hung of SLNA Club, who has directly coached Ngoc since the young goalkeeper joined the club, said: “Bao Ngoc is one of the players who is very obedient, polite, mature, serious in both daily life and training, and especially has a very high will to improve. When I give exercises, he is highly focused, learns very quickly and often asks the teacher to stay and practice more.

Although he has a large body, Bao Ngoc has very quick reflexes, is sharp in judging situations and is also very active in adjusting the players above in defensive situations.

Coach Le Van Hung - the person in charge of training goalkeepers for SLNA youth teams

A gift for grandpa

Accompanying Ngoc in youth football tournaments, besides teammates and coaches, is the encouragement and support of family members, especially his mother Truong.Thi Hoa - a health worker in Giai Xuan commune. Ms. Hoa said that Ngoc has been passionate about football since he was a child, and since his last years of primary school, he regularly participated in school and commune tournaments.

Nguyen Bao Ngoc with her mother and coach Le Van Hung. Photo: NVCC

Since his final years of primary school, compared to his peers, Ngoc had an outstanding physique and up to now, this goalkeeper is 1m82 tall, weighs 81kg, is one of the few young goalkeepers of SLNA with an outstanding physique. However, few people know that, when he was young, Ngoc had a period of being sickly and stunted.

“Although I am not healthy, because my father works far away and my mother is busy with work, I sent my child to my grandfather. As someone with knowledge of medicine, he has worked very hard to provide nutrition for Ngoc. With his care, Ngoc's body shape and physical strength have improved a lot, which is an important factor in helping me nurture my passion for football.

Two years ago, he passed away, leaving Ngoc with a great loss and pain. Although he did not say it, I saw that Ngoc was very determined in studying and practicing football, as if to be worthy of the love that he had for his grandson.

This year, the final match of the National U15 tournament took place on August 22, Bao Ngoc’s grandfather’s birthday. Before the match, he told me that even though he was facing a very strong opponent, U15 PVF, he would try his best to play well and bring home the championship with U15 SLNA as a gift for his grandfather.

And as Ngoc said, in this match, despite conceding 2 goals from excellent shots by the opposing team's strikers in the first half, the U15 SLNA goalkeeper then played very well, motivating SLNA's attacking players to score consecutive goals to win with a score of 4-2.

“After the match, when my teammates were celebrating, Ngoc hugged me and cried, saying, “I miss you so much, Mom!”, Ms. Hoa shared.

Goalkeeper Nguyen Bao Ngoc during a training trip in Japan with the National U17 team. Photo: NVCC

Coach Le Van Hung said that the excellence that goalkeeper Nguyen Bao Ngoc has shown recently also affirms the position of Tan Ky district in providing excellent young players for SLNA's training center as well as other localities in the country. In addition to Bao Ngoc, SLNA club currently has two other goalkeepers from Tan Ky, Nguyen Van Hoang and Nguyen Van Viet (both on the first team) and in the youth groups from U9 to U17, there are also many excellent players from this locality.

Besides, Bao Ngoc also contributes to affirming the model of the "post-Nguyen Manh" generation goalkeeper of the Club: Having outstanding physique, decisive in commanding the defense.

Currently, Bao Ngoc is training in Japan with the National U17 team and hopes that with his excellent ability, effort and will that he has shown, this goalkeeper will have an official position in the journey to conquer the upcoming U17 Asian qualifiers.