Chat with "littleboy" SLNA

(Baonghean.vn) - Called “littleboy”, the striker model that Indonesian and Thai defenders are very afraid of when facing. Small in stature, only 1.62m tall, but he moves intelligently, has the ability to weave within 16.5m, appears and disappears quickly, and swings his legs to score goals. Up to now, Mr. Van Sy Chi’s family is the only case with 4 children in the SLNA squad, there are many matches where Van Sy Hung, Van Sy Son and Van Sy Thuy all play on the field.

Except for Van Sy Linh who only played for SLNA for a short time, the three Van Sy brothers have contributed to SLNA for many years. Broadly speaking, not only in SLNA but also in Vietnamese football, there are few families like that. If we count the total number of medals, they must be in the top.

Although small, Van Sy Hung always makes his opponents wary because of his fast and cunning playing style - Photo: Internet

I met Van Sy Hung at Noi Bai airport, when I was preparing to fly to Nha Trang to watch the National U19 Championship (in which U19 HN.T&T will play the final match) in my capacity as Director of the HN.T&T Youth Football Training Center. Looking back, he recalled the memory of 1997, the image of the Nghe An boy at the Senayan fire pan within the framework of the 19th SEA Games with a capacity of nearly 100,000 people.

Vietnam conceded the first goal in the 18th minute by striker Bima Sakti, then it was the turn of center back Do Khai to be sent off early. In the 58th minute, midfielder Quang Ha took a free kick, Van Sy Hung chose the right moment to run across the face and then leaned down to connect, driving the ball into the far corner, scoring the equalizer.

Until now, this is still considered one of the most beautiful goals of Vietnamese football and of course, it was the most spectacular goal of Van Sy Hung. Then Indonesia took the lead 2-1 until the 90th minute. When everyone thought it was a defeat for the Vietnamese team, Huynh Duc passed the ball, Van Sy Hung quickly flicked the ball between 2 Indonesian defenders and then lifted the ball over the goalkeeper's hand, equalizing 2-2, the Senayan fire pan was silent. A week later, the leading sports newspapers in Southeast Asia were still talking about Van Sy Hung, the Vietnamese team and SLNA, the nickname "littleboy" appeared from that impressive match.

At the age of 16, "little boy" Van Sy Hung was sent by his father Van Sy Chi, who once played for The Cong, to try out for the Air Defense - Air Force team, then played for the Thanh Hoa Public Security team, the peak of which was bringing this team to the A1 division in 1992.

But the most golden period for Van Sy Hung took place in SLNA's shirt, with 2 national championships in 2000 and 2001. After that, he won 2 more championships with HA.GL in 2003 & 2004, 3 National Cups and 4 Super Cups. In 2004, Van Sy Hung retired from the field in the shirt of the First Division team Khai Hoan Hotel, ending a glorious football career.

During his 5 years playing for the Vietnamese national team, this striker won the bronze medal at the 1996 Tiger Cup, the bronze medal at the 1997 SEA Games, the silver medal at the 1998 Tiger Cup, the silver medal at the 1999 SEA Games...

But Van Sy Hung still said: For me, the 2000 championship with SLNA is still the sweetest memory, a championship that Nghe An people have waited for so long. That year, with 43 points after 24 rounds, SLNA duly took the championship and my brother, Van Sy Thuy, was the player who scored the most goals, winning the title of "Top scorer". On the momentum, a few months later we crushed Saigon Port 2-0, winning the Super Cup.

The life of "shorts, numbered shirt" Van Sy Hung was not only glorious but also full of pain and bruises, he broke his leg 7 times, the last time he had to have 7 nails put in, lying motionless for months. That was the match between SLNA and Makassar in the AFC Cup 2000, at Hang Day Stadium that year, Van Sy Hung scored a beautiful goal from a free kick but SLNA still easily lost 1-4 and the highlight was a very serious injury to Van Sy Hung. Right after the malicious tackle by the Makassa (Indonesia) defender, the television audience still heard Van Sy Thuy's scream "guys, Hung's leg is broken".

Sitting down to talk, Van Sy Hung confided: “The thing I am most proud of, throughout my entire football career, is that I dare to affirm that I played cleanly. You know, in the 90s, there was no bed in the house to lie on, someone brought a sack of money and placed it in the middle of the house, I thanked him and politely refused.”

Since 2000, after retiring from their football career, the Van Sy brothers established the first youth football center in Vietnam located in Cua Lo named VSH. This is the address providing input for the HN.T&T Youth Football Training Center in My Dinh, Hanoi.

Talking about the contest "Song Lam Nghe An - the pride of Nghe An", he shared his feelings: "So great, the contest is so meaningful, when we were still playing football, we just stuck our heads out on the field, now we have the opportunity to see what the audience thinks about SLNA and our generation back then, it is an opportunity for us to relive the memories of that time".

Nguyen Thanh Toan