SLNA midfielder with special emotions on first call up to national team

After Phan Van Duc and Pham Xuan Manh played for U23 Vietnam and "made waves" in continental and national tournaments, the next generation of players almost disappeared from the list of U22 Vietnam and U23 Vietnam.

That is also the reason why in 2017 and 2018, no young SLNA players were discovered by coach Nguyen Duc Thang. And Nguyen Ba Duc is one of the very few players born in 1998 who played most prominently in the selected SLNA youth teams.

Born in Nghi Loc at a time when Nghi Loc youth football had not yet established a grassroots amateur gifted football class, the only and fastest way for Ba Duc to realize his dream was the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament.

Center back Nguyen Ba Duc. Photo: Trung Kien

During his two participations in the tournament in 2008 and 2009, Ba Duc's ideal physique and tenacious playing style caught the eye of SLNA scouts. The only thing that Nguyen Ba Duc had to join SLNA in 2010 was the Bronze Medal of the Youth Football Tournament of Nghe An Newspaper Cup with the dream of wearing the Nghe An team's jersey.

Being a rare case from Nghi Loc district to be admitted to SLNA, and playing in the position of central defender, not many people know about Nguyen Ba Duc. During his years playing for SLNA youth team, Ba Duc has never once enjoyed the feeling of winning a championship. The most notable achievements are the bronze medal of U17 National Championship in 2015, bronze medal of U21 National Championship in 2017 and silver medal of the 2018 Sports Festival.

If the Bronze Medal of U21 SLNA brought two seniors Phan Van Duc and Pham Xuan Manh to the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, the dream of Nguyen Ba Duc and his teammates was only to wear the SLNA first team shirt. After two years playing in the Second Division for the People's Public Security and one year playing for Ba Ria Vung Tau, Ba Duc still kept that simple desire. However, that period of time was enough to help Ba Duc mature and gain valuable accumulations.

Center back Nguyen Ba Duc has only been tested in friendly matches. Photo: Xuan Thuy

Preparing for V.League 2019, SLNA said goodbye to a series of important faces such as Que Ngoc Hai or Pham Manh Hung in the defense. Nguyen Ba Duc and 9 of his teammates in U21 SLNA were promoted to the first team to get acquainted with the V.League environment and other tournaments. It was an honor for Ba Duc to be retained by coach Nguyen Duc Thang, officially registered for the 2019 season.

However, throughout the first leg of V.League 2019, the central defender pair Van Khanh - Memovic played so well that Ba Duc was not given a chance to test himself. However, early training and competition with the seniors, accumulating valuable experiences from experienced central defenders helped the young central defender quickly progress and mature.

In the recent friendly match to open Ha Tinh Stadium between the home team Hong Linh Ha Tinh and SLNA, Nguyen Ba Duc, coming on as a substitute from the bench, also had a remarkable performance and scored a goal to help SLNA take a 2-0 lead before Hong Linh Ha Tinh scored 2 equalizers before the match ended. That was almost Ba Duc's first mark on the SLNA first team.

Center back Nguyen Ba Duc in his first call-up to the national team. Photo: Thanh Xuan

Before the day of leaving for the national team, Ba Duc could not hide his happiness: "When I heard the news that I would be called up to the U23 Vietnam team, my feelings when I heard that I would be called up to the national team were honor and pride. This is the motivation for me to strive even harder in the next steps of my career."

Unlike his two seniors Phan Van Duc and Pham Xuan Manh, who had several years of experience in the V.League before joining the national team, Ba Duc confided: "I was a little worried, but the process of training on the SLNA first team with the seniors helped me improve myself more, thereby helping me become more confident in myself, so I think it's not too big of a problem."

The first short-term training session of the Vietnam U23 team will take place from July 8 to July 11 at the PVF Center. During this training session, the team will have a practice match with the Vietnam U18 team. This afternoon (July 8), Nguyen Ba Duc and his teammates had their first training session in Hanoi.

SLNA's central defender Nguyen Ba Duc was called up to the U23 Vietnam team by coach Park Hang-seo.

(Baonghean.vn) - To prepare for the 30th Sea Games taking place at the end of this year, coach Park Hang-seo has summoned Nguyen Ba Duc, a central defender currently on the payroll of SLNA.