U23 and the contributions of the bosses

Vietnamese youth football is on the rise as the U16 and U19 teams reached the semi-finals of the 2016 U16 Asian Cup, the U20 team reached the finals of the 2017 U20 World Cup and now, the U23 team is proudly in the finals. It is worth mentioning that the authors of the above successes are not the VFF but the 6X generation bosses.

Stories of 6X bosses

First of all, we have to mention Mr. Kien, even though he is currently in trouble with the law.

The man, born in 1964, started playing football in 2000. But 11 years later, at the 2011 Football Summary Conference, when he grabbed the microphone to speak for 30 minutes, the "bomb" about reforming Vietnam's football field exploded.

It was the premise for the birth of Vietnam Football Joint Stock Company (VPF). Unfortunately, in August 2012, Mr. Kien was arrested for economic crimes, so many plans could not be implemented. However, VPF has completed its historic mission in phase 1 and now it is the turn of Mr. Tu, an enthusiastic successor, to take the lead in the next phase.

Mr. Duc (left) and Mr. Thang have been with football for nearly two decades. Photo: AT

The next notable person is Mr. Thang (born in 1967), also known as Mr. Vo Quoc Thang - Chairman of Dong Tam Joint Stock Company, former Chairman of VPF Professional Football Joint Stock Company. Mr. Thang has been a football boss since 2001.

DTLA Club has won the national football championship twice. In 2008, he recommended Portuguese coach Calisto to take charge of the Vietnam national team and won the AFF Cup 2008, the highest football achievement of Vietnam to date. After Mr. Kien was arrested, he was busy with a thousand things, but he still tried to steer VPF for 2 terms, which should be recognized. The development of Vietnamese youth football to date is more or less thanks to Mr. Thang.

Bau Duc (born in 1962) played football at the same time as Bau Thang, the Wood and Brick brands created continuous competition for many years. If Mr. Thang is associated with the name H. Calisto, Bau Duc is associated with Kiatisuk and Thai players.

The turning point in 2006 was when he went to England to study and decided to open the HAGL Arsenal - JMG football academy in Pleiku. He also built a stadium in Gia Lai province into one of the few international standard football stadiums in Vietnam, turning HAGL into the first professional football club in our country.

Many players from JMG Academy have become key players of Vietnam's youth teams, with high expertise and good foreign language skills. The current U23 Vietnam squad has 6 players from HAGL including Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Van Toan, Ngoc Quang, Hong Duy, Van Thanh. In particular, Mr. Duc has made great contributions in recruiting coach Park Hang Seo, who led the U23 Vietnam squad at the U23 Asian Cup this time.

A little quieter is Mr. Hien (born in 1962), the owner of T&T Group and also the owner of SHB Bank. Mr. Hien came to football later, from 2006 and by 2009, his T&T Club had become professional. This is the owner mentioned by the press with the topic "one owner, many teams" but in the end, no one has enough documents to prove it.

In fact, besides T&T and SHB.Da Nang, which have been dominating the V-League, Quang Nam has recently won the championship. It is worth noting that Mr. Hien has a solid football foundation and is willing to invest in youth football. In the current U23 list, there are 6 players who are "Mr. Hien's children", including "killers" Nguyen Quang Hai, Do Duy Manh, and Ha Duc Chinh.

Dream near

Since 2006, when Mr. Duc established the HAGL Arsenal - JMG football academy in Pleiku, it took exactly 11 years for us to be present at the U23 Asian Cup. Since then, because of their love for football, many other Vietnamese businessmen have spared no expense in training young people.

PVF Youth Football Training Center in Hung Yen has 6 training grounds and 1 international standard competition ground. Photo: AT

PVF Youth Football Training Center of Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong was established 10 years ago but has also provided 3 players for U23: Bui Tien Dung, Ha Duc Chinh and Truong Van Thai Quy.

The dream of the Vietnam National Team participating in the World Cup is closer than ever.

That mission lies on the shoulders of Vietnamese billionaires!