Striker Ho Tuan Tai (SLNA): "Successor" of Van Quyen

The day Van Quyen decided to retire last April was also the day his cousin Ho Tuan Tai was called up to the Vietnam U19 team. The elder brother goes first, the younger brother follows and perhaps the Hung Tien strip of land along the Lam River will soon have another football star in the near future.

Striker Tuan Tai is dreaming of one day achieving the same feats as his older brother Van Quyen.

WHEN VAN QUYEN DRAWED THE PATH…

After the negative incident that happened at V.NB last April, although not related to the incident, Van Quyen made a surprising decision, which was to retire at the age of 30. There was a lot of regret because the audience will no longer be able to witness the magical ball handling of "fat" Quyen.

Amidst that regret, unexpectedly, a SLNA player was called up to the Vietnam U19 team and very interestingly, that person was Tuan Tai, Van Quyen’s cousin. “If it weren’t for Quyen’s guidance, I wouldn’t have been able to pursue a football career,” the young striker began his story like that.

Tai said that, when he was at the peak of his career, Van Quyen was the pride of his hometown and it was the image of his cousin that drew Tuan Tai to football. Tuan Tai said: “My father is Quyen’s mother’s younger brother. Life in the countryside was hard and playing football was also a way to escape poverty. When I was 13 years old, Quyen drove me to Vinh City to audition for SLNA. At that time, I was worried that I wouldn’t pass because the number of people coming to audition was very large, up to several hundred people. Seeing that I was not confident, Quyen said: “Play as well as you can, just play comfortably!”

After listening, I suddenly felt stronger and luckily passed the exam. Being accepted into SLNA, Tuan Tai made strong progress and quickly appeared in U15, U17 and U19 SLNA.

During his time training in the youth team, with little salary and a knee cartilage injury, Tuan Tai thought he would have to pack up and return home, but luckily he had Van Quyen by his side.

“When Quyen joined XMXT.SG and then went to V.NB to compete, he often called me to tell me not to give up, then he sent me money and told me to keep it to buy more studded shoes so that when I returned from injury, I would have something to use properly and not worry about injury,” Tuan Tai said about his cousin’s kindness. Until now, this young player is the great hope of SLNA football.

… AND THE ROAD IS STILL FULL OF TERMINALS

After winning the title of “Top scorer” of the 2014 National U19 tournament in SLNA’s shirt, Tuan Tai was called up to join the Vietnam U19 team to prepare for the training trip to Japan last June. However, when he first joined the national team, Tuan Tai was not included in the list of players to go to the land of cherry blossoms.

Sad and disappointed that he could not stay in the national team, Tuan Tai did not give up. When he returned to SLNA, Tuan Tai was greatly encouraged by Van Quyen and coach Huu Thang. At that time, this young striker practiced as if he would have to leave the ball tomorrow. Tuan Tai was determined to do it again, not only to nurture his dream of being in the SLNA first team, but more importantly, to return to the Vietnam U19 team.

Luck does not disappoint those who persevere and after the U19 Vietnam team finished their training trip in Japan and returned home, Tuan Tai was called up to prepare for the U22 Southeast Asian tournament taking place in Brunei this August. Receiving the good news, he could not sleep all night and Tuan Tai said that the opportunity would not come to him a second time.

“Mr. Quyen has done so many things during his peak years, I wish to be like him. But I have to be realistic, I cannot live forever in the shadow, the title of “Van Quyen’s cousin”, but have to show it on the field. The upcoming tournament in Brunei is a challenge and I have to try very hard, otherwise if I am eliminated again the sky will fall”, Tuan Tai said with a determined voice.

Although he has been famous in youth tournaments for a long time, Tuan Tai has not yet had a solid position in the U19 Vietnam national team and for him, the road ahead is still full of thorns. Everything has just begun for Tuan Tai and if he does not try and make an effort, the expectations will turn into disappointment. Perhaps, this young striker must understand that to move forward, so that every time he is mentioned, the name Tuan Tai will shine as brightly as his cousin Van Quyen!

"KILLER" IN THE NATIONAL U17 TOURNAMENT This year, U17 SLNA could not pass the group stage to participate in the National U17 Finals of Football Newspaper - Thai Son Nam Cup 2014. However, the Nghe An team is still very proud to have a player who has played brilliantly in this prestigious and attractive tournament. In 2011 and 2012, Tuan Tai consecutively won the title of "Top scorer" at the National U17 Finals of Football Newspaper - Thai Son Nam Cup when this player scored a total of 9 goals. VAN QUYEN AND THE CLOTHES GIVEN TO TUAN TAI After taking Tuan Tai to the SLNA training camp, Van Quyen bought his cousin a set of clothes. Tuan Tai considered that sportswear as the most precious souvenir since he started his football career. And every time he was unsuccessful in a match or had a sad event, Tuan Tai would take out that set of clothes to look at to motivate himself to overcome difficulties. "Maybe the clothes that Quyen bought for me will follow me for the rest of my life!", Tuan Tai confided. THE DOOR TO SLNA'S FIRST TEAM IS WIDE OPEN After impressive performances in youth tournaments, Tuan Tai is a great hope for the near future of SLNA's first team. Coach Huu Thang said that Tuan Tai will continue to be trained in the 2014 National U21 tournament to improve himself. In the next season, Tuan Tai will most likely be promoted to SLNA's first team. "Tuan Tai is already in the planning of SLNA's attack. Of course, to be promoted to the first team, Tuan Tai still needs to try hard," said Coach Huu Thang.

SOME FEATURES OF HO TUAN TAI

- Year of birth: 1995 in Nghe An

- Height: 1m74; Weight: 65kg

- Position: Forward

- 2008: Joined SLNA

- 2011 and 2012: Won the title of Top Scorer of the National U17 Finals of Football Newspaper - Thai Son Nam Cup.

- 2014: Won the title of Top Scorer of the National U19 tournament.

According to Bongdaplus