Tran Dinh Dong retires after many years with Song Lam Nghe An

Born in 1987,Tran Dinh DongJoining Song Lam Nghe An at the age of 13, Dinh Dong's favorite position at that time was central midfielder. In competition, he not only created conditions for his teammates to score but was also ready to have powerful long-range shots to score for his team.

When Dinh Dong was the core of the U17, then U19 and U21 teams of Song Lam Nghe An competing in youth tournaments, the coaches highly appreciated the mature playing style and the steel quality of this midfielder. This helped Dinh Dong get an official place in the first team in 2007 along with teammates Quang Tinh, Cong Minh, Dac Khanh...

Tran Dinh Dong used to be the core of SLNA youth teams. Photo: Hai Hoang

Dinh Dong was once the core of the U17 team, then the U19 and U21 teams of Song Lam Nghe An competing in domestic competitions. Experts highly appreciated his mature playing style and his "steel" quality. This helped Dinh Dong get an official place in the first team.

At that time, the Nghe An team fell into financial difficulties and many top stars such as Le Cong Vinh, Duong Hong Son,... left one after another. Song Lam Nghe An was then in a situation of losing players, coach Nguyen Van Thinh decided to move Dinh Dong to play as a right winger, then at times the defense continuously lost players, Dinh Dong moved completely to the right back position until the 2009 season. In the 2010 season, Dinh Dong was pushed down to play as a left back, sometimes he even played as a center back instead of Nguyen Huy Hoang.

Dinh Dong is a versatile player. Photo: Hai Hoang

In 2015, Dinh Dong joined Thanh Hoa Club. When his contract with the Thanh team expired at the end of 2018, he was signed by his old team Song Lam Nghe An for a 2-year contract. In the 2019 season, he and his team finished in 7th place with 35 points after 26 rounds. This was quite an impressive season for the player from Anh Son when he played with the team's 2 best players, goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh and midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc.

Song Lam Nghe An fans bid farewell to Dinh Dong. Photo: Hoang Cuong

At the beginning of the 2022 season, the leaders of Song Lam Nghe An Club decided to extend the contract with Tran Dinh Dong until the end of the 2022 season. He played 8 matches, of which 3 matches were in the starting lineup, 5 matches came off the bench, with a playing time of 315 minutes.

Thus, after many years of dedication and commitment, on November 19, after the match between Song Lam Nghe An and Nam Dinh at Vinh Stadium, Tran Dinh Dong officially retired and ended his years of professional football, including many years of dedication to Song Lam Nghe An Club.