Striker Ngan Van Dai: The warrior from Nghe An in the colors of the V.League champions.
(Baonghean.vn) - From a young talent overlooked by the SLNA academy, Ngan Van Dai has gradually asserted himself and achieved success playing for the reigning champions Hanoi FC and the national team at the peak of his career.
SLNA's dream was missed.
Ngan Van Dai was born in 1992 in Quy Hop, Nghe An. This mountainous region is poor, and football is not as developed as in other areas like Quynh Luu, Do Luong, and Hung Nguyen. Despite this, Ngan Van Dai's dream, like that of many other children born in the 90s, is to become a professional footballer like his idols Van Sy Hung, Hong Son, and Huu Thang.
When Ngan Van Dai participated in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament, the Quy Hop team lacked a good coach, so he and his teammates did not perform successfully, leaving little impression on the SLNA scouts. Also, at that time, Van Dai's physique wasn't ideal. And that's why the Nghe An football academy overlooked this talent.
In 2010, businessman Do Quang Hien and former player Van Sy Hung founded the VSH youth football academy in Cua Lo, Nghe An. Ngan Van Dai, Nguyen Van Cong, and Vi Duc Anh (from Nghia Dan) were accepted and became the first generation of players to mature from this training facility.
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| Ngan Van Dai in the jersey of Hanoi FC's youth teams. Photo: HNFC |
In 2011, Van Dai played for the Hanoi T&T youth team, then coach Nguyen Van Tuan loaned him to play for V&V United. At the national U21 tournament that year, Ngan Van Dai left a strong impression with his sharp, active, and aggressive playing style.
A year later, at the 2012 National U21 Championship, Ngan Van Dai played for SLNA U21 on loan. He performed well in the group stage matches, but was absent from the semi-final due to illness. Nevertheless, winning the 2012 National U21 Championship in Ninh Thuan is considered a memorable achievement for this player.
In September 2013, Ngan Van Dai, then 21 years old, was called up to the Vietnam U23 national team by coach Hoang Van Phuc. At that time, he was playing for Saigon FC in the First Division on loan. He and the Vietnam U23 team had a training camp in Hungary.
During this training camp, Ngan Van Dai made an impression with 2 goals and was considered a potential striker. However, he couldn't stand out more than Le Van Thang, Vu Minh Tuan, Nguyen Van Quyet, Mac Hong Quan, or Le Hoang Thien and was among the 3 names dropped from the official 22-player squad for the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar.
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| Ngan Van Dai was consistently called up to the Vietnam U23 and Olympic teams. Photo: FBNV |
In 2014, Ngan Van Dai and the Hanoi U21 team won the runner-up position at the national U21 championship. He contributed 3 goals in this tournament and was included in the tournament's ideal team lineup.
With outstanding performances at the 2014 National U21 Championship and the International U21 Tournament while playing for the Vietnam U21 team, Ngan Van Dai was included by coach Toshiya Miura in the Vietnam Olympic team's roster for the 17th Asian Games. However, the striker from Nghe An was not named in the final squad that traveled to Incheon, South Korea.
A familiar yet fresh breeze at the national team.
After two years with Saigon FC, in the 2015 season, Van Dai, along with Quang Hai, Hung Dung, and Dinh Trong, helped Hanoi FC successfully gain promotion. Playing in the V.League, Van Dai continued to showcase his goal-scoring ability in a strong team with an attacking style of play.
With 5 goals for Saigon FC in the 2017 V.League season, Ngan Van Dai was called up to the national team for the first time at the age of 25. Coach Mai Duc Chung named him to the national team squad for the match against Cambodia in the second leg of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers in September 2017.
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| Wearing the Hanoi FC jersey, Ngan Van Dai won many titles. Graphic: TK |
Gradually proving himself, Ngan Van Dai returned to Hanoi FC in the V.League 2018, playing 18 matches and scoring 4 goals. This was a very significant season for Ngan Van Dai, as it was the first time he lifted the V.League championship trophy.
In the 2019 season, despite scoring only one goal, the player from Nghe An still made a significant contribution to the capital team's success with 16 matches in the V.League, not to mention the National Cup and the 2019 National Super Cup championship.
At the 2019 Asian Cup, Ngan Van Dai became the only player who did not participate in the 2018 AFF Cup but still made the final squad and was given a chance to play. Coach Park Hang-seo had reason to take such a risk because in the previous friendly match against North Korea, he performed very well playing at right back, a position that is not his forte.
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| Ngan Van Dai could be an option for coach Park Hang-seo while Trong Hoang is suspended for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Photo: VFF |
At the continental tournament, Ngan Van Dai came on for the last 20 minutes of the match against Iran. At that time, the 27-year-old player was brought in to replace Trong Hoang, who was injured. Unfortunately, after the achievement of reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup with the Vietnamese national team, Ngan Van Dai suffered a series of injuries and has not been called up to the national team since then.
That difficult period finally passed, and Ngan Van Dai and Hanoi FC prepared for the V.League 2020 season. He became a key player for the reigning champions in the two matches played so far.
In the 4-2 victory against Nam Dinh FC, Ngan Van Dai contributed one goal, and the player from Nghe An will certainly achieve even more with the continuous opportunities given to him at a strong team with many stars like Hanoi FC.
Asian Cup 2019: The ball is now in Ngan Van Dai's court.
(Baonghean.vn) - After the friendly match against the North Korean national team, coach Park Sang-seo finalized the Vietnamese national team's roster to 24 players in preparation for the 2019 Asian Cup. Fortunately, Ngan Van Dai was retained.
