'Youth King' Phan Thanh Hoan and his journey back to his old home SLNA

Nghe An is the birthplace of many talented and special strikers such as Sy Hung, Sy Thuy, Van Quyen, Cong Vinh, Dinh Hiep, Dinh Bao, or later Tuan Tai, Van Duc (SLNA), Cong Phuong (HAGL), Van Dai (Hanoi), the young generation is Cai Van Quy (U17), Tran Manh Quynh (U19)...

The players of the next generation have all made an impression in youth tournaments such as the national U17 and national U19 tournaments and are now the pillars of many teams, even the national team. However, to put it simply, the next generation is “not old enough” to compete with the talent of Phan Thanh Hoan at his peak. Even the match made in heaven Van Quyen – Cong Vinh had to hide under the shadow of their seniors born in 1982.

It is not wrong to say that Phan Thanh Hoan was born to be the main character in the finals. At the 1998 National U16 tournament (later the National U15 tournament), Phan Thanh Hoan began to show his talent with the only goal against Ha Tinh, helping U16 SLNA win the championship.

Shortly after, thanks to making a strong impression in the 1999 national U18 championship (now the U19 tournament), young talents of SLNA at that time such as Thanh Hoan, Huy Hoang, Cong Manh, Thanh Hai were continuously called up to the national team, leaving many impressions on foreign coaches.

At the age of 18, Phan Thanh Hoan was in the squad participating in the 2000 National U21 tournament and won the championship with the talents of SLNA at that time such as Ha Mai Giang, Ho Thanh Thuong, Nguyen Huy Hoang, Nguyen The Anh, Nguyen Thanh Hai. After that tournament, Phan Thanh Hoan broke his leg in a traffic accident while training with the Vietnam U19 team in Hanoi. However, he still returned to football strongly thanks to his existing technical foundation.

At the U21 National Finals held in Da Nang, no defense was strong enough to stop this striker with his eccentric playing style. The journey to successfully defend the championship title was marked by Phan Thanh Hoan. He simultaneously won two titles: “Top scorer” and “Best player of the tournament”. At that time, Thanh Hoan was expected to be the “second Le Huynh Duc”.

At the 2002 National U21 Finals, also in Da Nang, although his junior Pham Van Quyen was the “Best Player”, Phan Thanh Hoan continued to prove that he was the mainstay of U21 SLNA. In the final match against Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Hoan scored the only goal to help the Nghe An team win the championship for the third consecutive time.

Striker Phan Thanh Hoan (in yellow shirt) still plays amateur football after retiring. Photo: FBNV

The following year, the 2003 U21 Finals held in An Giang, SLNA began to introduce another talented striker, Le Cong Vinh. Although that year, Cong Vinh scored the most goals in the tournament, SLNA lost the championship to SHB Da Nang, but the title of Best Player continued to belong to his senior Phan Thanh Hoan.

With such a starting point, everyone thought that Phan Thanh Hoan would be the future of SLNA. After SLNA's JVC Cup 2003 championship, faces like Cong Vinh, Nhu Thuat, Thanh Hoan were called up to join the U23 team to prepare for the 23rd SEA Games. However, if the JVC Cup was the turning point that helped Le Cong Vinh be retained by SLNA, Phan Thanh Hoan had to go to Hue to play on loan.

As for the U23 Vietnam team, Phan Thanh Hoan was also sent back due to his inability to show his ability in the second leg of the 2004 Olympic qualifying round and the 2004 Asian Cup qualifying round. This was the time when Van Quyen and Cong Vinh had surpassed their seniors to take the starting position at SLNA. The striker position is very demanding and requires a strong will and talent, but Thanh Hoan gradually fell behind.

Since 2015, Phan Thanh Hoan has owned a C license from AFC and in 2017 a B license. Photo: FBNV

When Van Quyen (1984) was called up to the national team, won the Golden Ball award at the age of 19, and Le Cong Vinh (1985) won this award in 2004, Phan Thanh Hoan still struggled to assert himself. Wandering from Hoa Phat Ha Noi Club in 2004, Khanh Hoa in 2006 and then looking for opportunities in Thanh Hoa, but wherever he went, Phan Thanh Hoan encountered difficulties...

In 2010, Phan Thanh Hoan retired and went to England. Returning in 2014, having accumulated a small amount of capital, Thanh Hoan returned to do business in food and construction materials in Vinh City. People still see the talent of the past playing amateur football.

A notable turning point was that afterwards, unable to break away from his football relationship, the former “King of Youth Tournaments” invested in his studies and obtained a Class B coaching license from the Asian Football Confederation in 2017.

Thanks to that, in 2018, Phan Thanh Hoan participated in youth training at VST - Hanoi Club. With what he has affirmed, Phan Thanh Hoan is now known in a new position: Deputy coach of U19 SLNA team. This is truly an opportunity that the Nghe An team gave to the "King of the Youth Championship" of the year, but it is also a heavy task because for the past 14 years, U19 SLNA has stopped at 5 championships.

Song Lam Nghe An hosts the 2020 National Youth Finals and U15 Qualifiers

(Baonghean.vn) - The Organizing Committee of the 2020 National Youth and Children's Football Tournament has just sent a notice to participating teams about the time and location of the final round.