"King of creation" comes from "street football"
(Baonghean.vn) - Having contributed to 17/37 goals of Than Quang Ninh this season, reaching a rate of 46%, Nghiem Xuan Tu has become the player with the most assists in the history of V-League. Few people know that it was not until the age of 25 that Tu "horse" became a professional football player, after overcoming colon cancer.
The boy born in 1988 has a father named Nghiem Xuan Manh, a former famous player of the Vietnam Railway Club. However, Xuan Tu's path to professional football was not paved with roses but full of thorns and challenges. Xuan Tu grew up at the Hoa Phat Hanoi youth training center and he once contributed to helping the second division team Hoa Phat-V&V get promoted.
Early life hardships
Immediately after that, Mr. Thuy - the owner of Xuan Thanh Cement Group agreed with Hoa Phat V&V to exchange Xuan Thanh Ha Tinh's second division participation ticket for Hoa Phat V&V's first division promotion ticket, starting from the 2011 season and moving the team's household registration to Ho Chi Minh City. Tu "horse" learned that he was removed from the list along with the fact that he was diagnosed with colon cancer in his twenties.
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| With 17 assists, Tu set a record in the history of the national number 1 tournament. Photo: Internet |
Football was the medicine that helped him forget his serious illness and rekindle his faith in life. Xuan Tu once shared that because he was so passionate about football, he gave up his last radiation treatment because he had agreed to play street football with a friend.
There was a time when, even though he had just had surgery and the stitches had not yet been removed, he put on his shoes and went out on the field, playing until he was exhausted and had to go to the emergency room. A miracle happened, sports and the right medicine helped him recover and with his innate talent, Xuan Tu soon became a famous amateur star in Hanoi at that time.
In early 2013, fate smiled on the Hanoi boy when Xuan Tu received a phone call inviting him to Thanh Hoa Club for a trial from coach Mai Duc Chung, a colleague of his father.
Playing for Thanh Hoa for 2 years, Xuan Tu transferred to Than Quang Ninh Club from the 2015 season and here, he became a pillar of the mining team. In the past, Nghiem Xuan Tu also received an invitation to try out at Kaiserslautern Club, a German team playing in Bundesliga 2.
After 3 seasons playing for Than Quang Ninh, Tu has experienced many unforgettable ups and downs with the team, but the most memorable are the 2 National Cup and National Super Cup in 2016. That was also his most successful season with the Mining Region team. Tu was voted the best player of TQN Club with 10 assists.
Entering the 2018 season, fans of the Than region were somewhat worried when captain Vu Minh Tuan said goodbye to TQN Club to join FLC Thanh Hoa. But this was the time for right winger Nghiem Xuan Tu to escape the shadow of his teammates and shine.
Nghiem Xuan Tu is a skillful winger who can change direction at high speed and has the ability to cross the ball accurately. His passes always bring peace of mind to his teammates when they have the ball, this midfielder wearing the number 77 shirt is always the number one choice of coach Phan Thanh Hung.
Fans of Than region are still ecstatic over Tu's sublimation in the "Northeast Derby" match with Hai Phong on the afternoon of September 8 in round 21 of V-League 2018. In that match, Tu had a hat-trick, with 2 assists for Vinicius and Nguyen Sa and 1 goal, helping TQN lead 3-1. This is something that few Vietnamese players have ever done, especially those who started quite late like Tu "horse".
No luck with the team
With 17 assists - a record number in the history of the national number 1 tournament, Nghiem Xuan Tu is considered the "assist king" in V-League 2018. He is also a midfielder in the typical squad of the National Football Championship this year. It seemed that the path to the national team of this Nghiem boy would be smooth, but it was not.
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| This midfielder wearing the number 77 shirt is always the number one choice of coach Phan Thanh Hung. Photo: Internet |
Under coach Huu Thang, Tu "horse" was called up to the national team twice. However, he has yet to make his debut for the Vietnam national team due to injury and other technical reasons. Since the time of interim coach Mai Duc Chung as well as the reign of coach Park Hang-seo, Nghiem Xuan Tu has never been called up to the national team.
It seems that Tu "horse"'s physical foundation, ability to play high balls and his left foot not being as skillful as his right foot have made his chances of entering the national team lower than his colleagues.
