Why is it most reasonable for Cong Phuong to return to Ho Chi Minh City?

Not only did "Vietnamese Messi" have difficulty integrating and playing for St.Truiden, even "Korean Messi" Lee Seung-Woo, as of round 20 of the Belgian National Championship, had only been on the reserve list twice.

Repatriation at the right time

“Cong Phuong is to Vietnamese audiences what Eden Hazard is to Belgians. His departure is a pity for us,” David Meekers told Het Belang van Limburg. Photo: St.Truiden

Lee Seung Woo, a 21-year-old player, was trained in Barcelona's famous La Masia academy. He only joined St. Truiden in the summer transfer window of 2019. Since then, he has been involved in many different troubles, which has limited his chances of playing. Asian fans generously give their favorite players the nickname "Messi", but St. Truiden and European clubs do not think so.

Obviously, playing only 20 minutes, sitting on the bench for 3 matches and not being on the list for 14 matches is a failed deal for Cong Phuong. After 2 coaches at St.Truiden, but the path to the list is still unclear, leaving Belgium to save the player's career before it is too late is the right thing to do. Surely Cong Phuong is not ready for the 4th time abroad, so returning to Vietnam is the wisest calculation at the present time.

Before the departure of Cong Phuong, Chairman David Meekers expressed his regret. At the same time, this man admitted that STVV's contract with this 24-year-old striker was a commercial deal: "Cong Phuong is to Vietnamese audiences like Eden Hazard is to Belgians. His departure is a pity for us" - Mr. David Meekers shared with Het Belang van Limburg.

Why Ho Chi Minh City?

Bau Duc announced that he is ready to let Cong Phuong stay in Ho Chi Minh City for the rest of the 2020 season without taking a penny. Photo: St.Truiden

When HAGL participated in V.League “playing for fun” and Mr. Duc was not successful in the mindset of exporting players “sitting on the bench, high salary is still better than playing in V.League”, returning to the Mountain City was not appropriate. Mr. Duc also never spent a lot of money to buy back the contract that just a few months ago he was very proud of.

Currently, only Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Ninh, in addition to the V.League and the National Cup, will compete in the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup, requiring additional players. Ho Chi Minh City will also participate in the 2020 Southeast Asian Club Championship, a tournament scheduled to take place from May to November next year.

In the context that Vietnam's football field does not have many good strikers, players like Tien Linh (B.Binh Duong), Van Duc (SLNA) and to some extent Duc Chinh (SHB.Da Nang) are the pillars of the clubs, not easy to negotiate.

The price of a football season is unlikely to be less than 2 billion VND/season, so spending 2.5 billion VND to buy back Cong Phuong's contract is a smart move by Club Chairman Huu Thang and Mr. Chung Hae-soung.

Not to mention, in theory, the Nghe An striker will only play for Ho Chi Minh City until June 2020, but if HAGL is not too "in danger" and Ho Chi Minh City goes deep into the AFC Champions League, the chance of Cong Phuong playing the entire season at Thong Nhat Stadium will be higher.

With Cong Phuong, the chance of victory of the Thong Nhat Stadium team against the current Thai League runner-up Buriram United in the AFC Champions League qualifying round will be much higher. Winning against Thai football at the national team or club level is still the constant goal of Vietnamese football, of course, Mr. Duc is the one who wants it more than anyone.

"Vietnamese Messi" and "Nghe An Ronaldo"

Not to mention, in V.League 2020, despite the huge investment, Mr. Duc still fully understands that HAGL will find it difficult to compete with Mr. Hien's team. There have been many clashes, even when Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong were present, "Mr. Hien's children" still played the team from the mountain town in disarray.

Currently, on the Vietnamese football field, only Ho Chi Minh City is the only team with enough ambition and strength to compete with Hanoi. Mr. Duc's "green light" for Cong Phuong to come to Ho Chi Minh City will help make the V.League 2020 race better, increasing competition. In the latest move, Mr. Duc announced that he is ready to let Cong Phuong stay in Ho Chi Minh City for the rest of the 2020 season without taking a penny, which will aim at this calculation.

The remaining problem belongs to Cong Phuong, because for the President of the Club Huu Thang and Mr. Chung Hae-soung, the reputation in the past does not guarantee Cong Phuong a starting position. In real life, Messi and Ronaldo have never played together in the same shirt, so how to combine "Vietnamese Messi" and "Nghe Ronaldo" is a big problem for Mr. Chung at this time.