'Wild elephant' of Song Lam Nghe An youth team

(Baonghean.vn)- Discovered from the 2014 Nghe An Newspaper Youth and Youth Cup Football Tournament, Nguyen Van Bach is currently leading the scoring list for his team with an efficiency of 1 goal/1 match in the U15 National qualifying round.become the hope of U15 SLNA in the upcoming final round.

Nguyen Van Bach. Photo: Trung Kien

Coming in second after an unlucky penalty shootout with Viettel in the 2016 National U13 final, Coach Le Ky Phuong’s students were crying, sobbing and sad. Even captain Dinh Xuan Tien could not hide his sadness like a child.

But we were completely surprised by Nguyen Van Bach, the best player of this tournament. Not a single tear, not a single emotion showed on the face of the player who "carried the team" throughout the qualifying round until the final match. Strange, we found it extremely strange... Bach helped his teammates, quietly walking towards the training area as if accepting something.

At the U13 National Qualifiers held at Vinh Stadium, viewers were shocked when U13 SLNA had a "foreign player" on the field. The coaches jokingly called him a "foreign player" because this player was tall, plump, and stood out from his teammates.

Nguyen Van Bach was 1m60 tall when he was 13 years old (born in 2003). Usually, big and tall players are not skillful or slow. Bach is different. The player discovered by SLNA from the 2014 Nghe An Newspaper Youth-ND Cup Football Tournament in Yen Thanh's shirt is no different from a "Didier Drogba" with a sullen face, playing fast, physically strong but no less soft.

Nguyen Van Bach possesses the ideal physique of a center forward... Photo: Trung Kien

Talking to Mr. Nguyen Van Bay - Van Bach's parent when he participated in the U13 national qualifying round last year, Bach made us go from one surprise to another. No one thought that a player with such a "wild" playing style on the field, was a student who won the title of "clean and beautiful handwriting" of the school, with good academic achievements.

Even when his parents traveled from Yen Thanh to Vinh to watch their child compete and then took a bus home, he received advice from this boy: "If it's not necessary, parents, just stay home and work, it's expensive." Even the presence of his parents in the stands made him feel pressured.

Mr. Bay said that Bach almost did not agree with his father following him like that. On the field, Bach not only left his opponents behind. But off the field, he was also a player with personality. Football requires innate factors and individual personality.

At the U15 national qualifying round in Hue, Mr. Nguyen Van Bay, like many other parents, traveled to support and encourage his son. Not afraid of the long distance and the hard work of driving, Mr. Bay confided: "As long as he is passionate, my wife and I, like other parents, will not hesitate to create conditions for him to pursue this career. SLNA has always been the pride of our hometown people. So I encourage him to keep practicing hard, and the results will come to those who deserve it...".

In the six home and away matches against Hue, SHB Da Nang and S. Khanh Hoa, Bach scored six goals, including a hat-trick against U15 Hue. The only goal that helped U15 SLNA win the opening match against this opponent was also thanks to his cunning. Compared to his age of 15, Bach is considered young in terms of age, but his physical strength, playing style and ability to seize opportunities are enough to make the coaches feel secure every time they put him on the field.

Young SLNA talent takes a photo with his family while competing in the U13 qualifying round at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Trung Kien

People often say, good students must have good teachers. Nguyen Van Bach was trained by Coach Le Ky Phuong - the best coach in SLNA at the moment in terms of basic technical training. And now, the person in charge of the SLNA U15 team is Coach Ngo Quang Truong, a young, talented coach with access to modern football knowledge. That is also a blessing for rough gems like Nguyen Van Bach.

This coming July, U15 SLNA will enter the National U15 Finals, which will truly be an accurate measure of the level of Nguyen Van Bach and his teammates. And of course, under the guidance of coach Ngo Quang Truong, fans expect the "wild elephant" Nguyen Van Bach to shine as he did in the qualifying round...

Trung Kien