Center back Le Thanh Lam and his 'transformation' through a tournament

Center back Le Thanh Lam was born in 2000 in Thai Hoa town in a family with no sports tradition. The family's economic conditions were relatively difficult, his father was a barber, his mother was a small trader at the market to raise two sons.

After participating in the 2011 Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament, Coach Nguyen Quang Dung discovered his talent and brought him to SLNA.

At that time, Thanh Lam was just a small boy, playing in the right-back position. In 2013, Thanh Lam and his teammates such as Ngo Van Luong, Ta Anh Dat, Ta Quoc Tien... won the National Youth Football Championship after 10 years of SLNA missing out.

However, after that year's championship, SLNA often went without a title at the U15 and U17 National levels. In 2017 and 2018, Thanh Lam was part of the SLNA U19 team participating in the National U19 Tournament, but Thai Ba Sang, Ta Anh Dat and Ho Trong Vang were the only central defenders to play for SLNA U19.

Center back Le Thanh Lam in SLNA U21 shirt. Photo: Ba Tuan

That was the time when Thanh Lam was trained to play as a central defender thanks to his visibly growing physique. By 2018, Thanh Lam was promoted to the SLNA U21 team and was not the first choice, Ba Duc and Ba Sang took the starting position. It can be said that since the 2013 National U13 Championship, Le Thanh Lam has not had many marks and successes with the SLNA youth teams.

Coming to V.League 2019, with the departure of central defenders Ngoc Hai and Manh Hung, and central defender Thai Ba Sang playing for Pho Hien Club in the First Division, coach Nguyen Duc Thang decided to promote Thanh Lam to the first team for training. However, SLNA's main squad already had Van Khanh, The Nhat and foreign central defender Damir Memovic, making the chances of players like Thanh Lam zero.

Before the 2020 season, Le Thanh Lam still had no chance because he suffered from a herniated disc and spent nearly a year treating the injury. Even when his senior Hoang Van Khanh suffered a serious injury, the opportunity still did not come to him because of Thai Ba Sang (1999).

Defender Le Thanh Lam was called up to the U22 Vietnam team by coach Park Hang-seo last year. Photo courtesy

In fact, there are few central defenders in SLNA who are as tall as Le Thanh Lam at 1m81. However, experience and confidence are what Le Thanh Lam lacks. Coach Quang Truong chose Thai Ba Sang to pair with Gustavo Santos in the early stages of V.League 2020.

For 2 years of “eating rice” with the first team, Thanh Lam is still just a “junior”, sitting on the bench. As a player with a very good physique, and regularly training with the stars at SLNA,Thanh Lamwas called up by coach Park Hang-seo in the first training sessions of U22 Vietnam in 2020 to prepare for the 31st SEA Games at home. But just a few days after joining the team, Thanh Lam packed his bags and returned to his club to treat his injury.

It was not until the 2020 National U21 Tournament that Thanh Lam's real opportunity came in an important tournament. Among the three central defenders Thanh Lam, Trong Vang and Khac Luong, coach Dinh Van Dung surprised everyone by using the central defender pair Le Thanh Lam - Ho Trong Vang (or Ho Khac Luong).

Center back Le Thanh Lam (shirt number 3) is a player from V.League who was added to the U21 team recently. Photo: Ba Tuan

After winning the ticket to the final round with U21 SLNA, Le Thanh Lam and U21 SLNA went to the final match. This is the tournament where Thanh Lam surprised everyone with his impressive performance. His strong cutting, aerial combat and tackling phases, no different from an experienced central defender in V.League, always made his teammates in the front line feel secure.

With his height, Thanh Lam has also created many opportunities for his teammates in corner kick situations. A place in the typical squad of the 2020 National U21 Finals is a worthy reward for Le Thanh Lam in his first time playing in a youth tournament since the age of 13.

Evaluating his student, coach Dinh Van Dung said: “In the SLNA first team, Thanh Lam did not get to play, he mainly pumped the ball for the seniors. However, I put my trust in him and he did not disappoint me. Hopefully in the first team, he will be given more opportunities to play.”

SLNA won the runner-up position and the 2020 National U21 Style Award

(Baonghean.vn) - The confrontation between the two strongest teams of the U21 SLNA and U21 Viettel tournament in the final match is worthy of being a battle between two identities. The team has a modern, powerful attack and the team has a traditional fiery playing style. And the victory belongs to the team that is rated higher.