Striker Ngan Van Dai: Nghe An warrior in the V.League champion's shirt
(Baonghean.vn) - From a young talent who was "ignored" by SLNA, Ngan Van Dai gradually asserted himself and became successful in the current champion Hanoi FC as well as the national team at the most mature age of his career.
Missed the SLNA dream
Ngan Van Dai was born in 1992 in Quy Hop, Nghe An. The mountainous area is inherently poor and football is not as developed as other localities such as Quynh Luu, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen... However, the dream of Ngan Van Dai, like other 9x children, is to become a professional football player like their idols Van Sy Hung, Hong Son, Huu Thang...
When Ngan Van Dai participated in the Youth Football Tournament, Nghe An Newspaper Cup, Quy Hop team did not have a good coach, so he and his teammates did not play successfully, leaving little impression in the eyes of SLNA scouts. Also because at that time, Van Dai's physique was not really ideal. And that is the reason why Nghe An football training center overlooked this factor.
In 2010, manager Do Quang Hien and former player Van Sy Hung founded the VSH youth football training center in Cua Lo, Nghe An. And Ngan Van Dai, Nguyen Van Cong, Vi Duc Anh (Nghia Dan) were recruited and became the "F1" generation of players who matured from this training facility.
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| Ngan Van Dai in the Hanoi youth football team jersey. Photo: HNFC |
In 2011, Van Dai played for the Hanoi T&T youth team, then coach Nguyen Van Tuan borrowed him to play for the V&V United team. In the national U21 tournament that year, Ngan Van Dai left a strong impression with his sharp, positive, and aggressive playing style.
A year later, at the 2012 National U21 Finals, Ngan Van Dai played for SLNA U21 on loan. He played well in the group matches but was absent in the semi-final due to illness. However, the 2012 National U21 Championship in Ninh Thuan is considered a memorable title for this player.
In September 2013, Ngan Van Dai, then 21 years old, was called up by coach Hoang Van Phuc to the Vietnam U23 team. At that time, he was playing for Saigon FC in the First Division on loan. He and the Vietnam U23 team had a training trip in Hungary.
During this training trip, Ngan Van Dai made his mark with 2 goals and was considered a potential striker. However, he could not 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 eliminated from the official list of 22 players attending the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar.
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| Ngan Van Dai was continuously called up to the Vietnam U23 team and the Vietnam Olympic team. Photo: FBNV |
In 2014, Ngan Van Dai and U21 Hanoi won the runner-up position at the national U21 tournament. In this tournament, he contributed 3 goals and this striker was in the list of the best squad of this tournament.
With his excellent performance at the national U21 tournament as well as the 2014 international U21 tournament in the U21 Vietnam jersey, Ngan Van Dai was named by coach Toshiya Miura in the list of the Vietnam Olympic team preparing for the 17th Asiad. However, the Nghe An striker was not on the final list to go to Incheon, Korea.
Old and new wind in the team
After 2 years with Saigon FC, in the 2015 season, Van Dai, along with Quang Hai, Hung Dung, and Dinh Trong, helped Hanoi FC successfully get promoted. Playing in the V.League, Van Dai continued to develop his scoring ability in a strong team with an attacking style of play.
With the achievement of scoring 5 goals for Saigon FC in V.League 2017, Ngan Van Dai was called up to the national team for the first time at the age of 25. Coach Mai Duc Chung called him up to the national team to prepare for the match against Cambodia in the second leg of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers in September 2017.
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| Playing for Hanoi FC, Ngan Van Dai has won many titles. Graphics: TK |
Step by step asserting himself, Ngan Van Dai was able to return to Hanoi FC in V.League 2018 and he played 18 matches, scoring 4 goals. This was a very meaningful season for Ngan Van Dai when he lifted the V.League Championship Cup for the first time.
In the 2019 season, although he only scored 1 goal, the player from Nghe An still made a great contribution to the capital team's achievements with 16 matches in the V.League, not to mention the National Cup and winning the 2019 National Super Cup.
At the 2019 Asian Cup, Ngan Van Dai became the only player who did not participate in the 2018 AFF Cup but was still included in the final list and given the opportunity to play. Coach Park Hang-seo had a reason to take such a risk because before that, in the friendly match against North Korea, he did very well when playing in the right-back position which is not his forte.
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| Ngan Van Dai could be an option for coach Park Hang-seo when Trong Hoang is suspended in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. Photo: VFF |
At the continental tournament, Ngan Van Dai was on the field for the last 20 minutes of the match against Iran. At that time, the 27-year-old player was arranged to replace Trong Hoang who was injured. Unfortunately, after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup with the Vietnam team, Ngan Van Dai was continuously injured and was not called up to the national team during the past time.
That difficult time finally passed, Ngan Van Dai and Hanoi FC prepared for V.League 2020 and he became the key factor of the defending champions in the past 2 matches.
In the 4-2 victory over Nam Dinh Club, Ngan Van Dai contributed 1 goal and certainly the player from Nghe An will do much more when continuously given opportunities at a strong team with many stars like Hanoi Club.
Asian Cup 2019: The flag has been handed to Ngan Van Dai
(Baonghean.vn) - After the friendly match with the DPRK team, coach Park Sang-seo reduced the list of the Vietnamese team to 24 players to prepare for the 2019 Asian Cup finals. Fortunately, Ngan Van Dai was still retained.
