Tuan leaves Quang Ninh for Thanh Hoa

Vu Minh Tuan

Vũ Minh Tuấn, a key player of V.League club, Quảng Ninh Coal, has confirmed that he will leave the team to play for FLC Thanh Hóa.

The 27-year-old midfielder is considered as a symbol of Quảng Ninh Coal.

Tuấn was born and raised in Quảng Ninh; his father was a member of the Coal. Tuấn also played for the youth teams of the Coal for many years.

In 2008, at the age of 18, Tuấn was named as a part of the first team of Quảng Ninh to participate in the national first division that year. In 2012, he was one of the contributors to Quảng Ninh U21, winning the bronze medal at the U21 Football Championship and was a member of the U21 Việt Nam team, who won the second place at the Youth International U21 Youth League.

He was called as part of the Việt Nam national U-23 team to attend the 2013 Southeast Asian Games. He was also called as part of the Việt Nam national football team at the friendly matches against Myanmar.

“I will play for Thanh Hóa in the football season of 2018. I am very sad to take this decision. But because of my future, I must decide. I hope my Quảng Ninh fans sympathise with me and support my choice,” said Tuấn.

Tuấn will soon sign a three-year contract with Thanh Hóa, who are the runners-up of the National Premier League 2017.

Tuấn will be the sixth rookie of Thanh Hóa in this year’s season. Earlier, Thanh Hóa, who will play in the AFC Champions League preliminary round, recruited two players of Quảng Ninh, Bùi Văn Hiếu and Nguyễn Minh Tùng.

Young talent, Hau to play for Hai Phong

Midfielder Phan Thanh Hậu of V.League club Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) will play for Hải Phòng under a one-year loan contract.

In 2014, after his performance as a member of the Việt Nam U19 national team at the 2014 AFC U19 Championship, Hậu was listed by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper as one of the 40 best young football talents in the world.

The 20-year-old midfielder, who is a product of the HAGL-Arsenal JMG Academy, was highly regarded for his skills and tactics.

However, Hậu’s career hasn’t advanced significantly since. His weakness is his small stature and low physical strength. Because of this, Hậu played only 10 matches in the starting line-up of HAGL in the national premier league 2017. He wasn’t called to the national U23 team.

This year, HAGL will welcome the return of midfielder Lương Xuân Trường who finished his loan contract with Gangwon FC club of South Korea. Also, HAGL now own many other outstanding midfielders such as Trần Minh Vương and Triệu Việt Hưng.

Hải Phòng, who finished seventh in the league, have welcomed three rookies from HAGL. Earlier, they borrowed two young midfielders Lê Phạm Thành Long and Lương Hoàng Nam. 

Phương to take charge of SHB Đà Nẵng

V.League side SHB Đà Nẵng have finally found a new head coach as former Long An FC coach Nguyễn Minh Phương was hired on December 28.

Phương has been the head coach of the Mekong Delta club for the last nine months, leading the side to relegation to the First Division.

The 37 year old replaces coach Lê Huỳnh Đức who resigned at the end of the 2017 season in November due to the team’s poor results.

Phương played for Đà Nẵng from 2010-15. He captained the team to the V.League trophy in 2012. He retired three years later and worked as Đức’s assistant in Đà Nẵng for one year.

Phương was a member of the national team from 2002-10, winning 73 caps and scoring 12 goals.

Phương will start his job on January 3. Other contract details were not revealed. 

VN to make splash at Asian U23 tournament

Việt Nam’s national head coach Park Hang-seo confirmed that his team would try to pull off a miracle at the upcoming Asian Football Confederation U23 Football Championship in China.

Speaking at a send-off ceremony in Hà Nội on Friday, Park said his team had practiced hard since early this month with great support from the Việt Nam Football Federation. The tournament was very close, but the team did not waste any time to improve their strength.

“It is time to show that we have prepared for the tournament. I really want to make a miracle happen there,” said Park through an interpreter.

Việt Nam are in Group D, together with South Korea, Australia and Syria. This is the second consecutive time that Vietnamese players have won a slot at the Asian tournament.

The tournament will kick off on January 9 and Việt Nam will first play South Korea two days later.

Park said South Korea would be the most difficult team, noting he had collected necessary information on Australia and Syria.

“We will play the first match against South Korea. We have almost no information on them as they did not have any match against other foreign teams prior to the tournament. Their games with local clubs were closed to the media. It is hard to approach them, but I finally have something thanks to my personal relationships,” said Park, a South Korean.

For his side, Park said his players showed progress during practice rounds. They understood the tactics and plans of the coaching board. However, they had not met his demands.

“There are many things to do but time is limited. We will have to do our best in each game (against South Korea). We know a little bit about them through their recent 2-3 loss to Ulsan Hyundai, and (Lương Xuân) Trường understands them better as he played in the K.League.

“We should not let them seize the central area. We have to escape from their domination and carry out our strategy. To do this, players must follow tactics and play with discipline,” said the coach.

Park also worried about the Vietnamese players’ physique.

"At around the 80th minute, they were exhausted, and they often lose goals at this time. We have to fix this problem. I found that the upper body of the Vietnamese players was thin, which set them at a disadvantage when vying for the ball. I have asked all of them to practice longer, focusing on developing their upper body strength. It is good news that they are getting better and better," he added.

Asked how he felt about playing against his country’s national team, Park said he was a South Korean but he worked for Việt Nam.

“My country is South Korea. I am a South Korean. My parents live there, and I love my country. But I am now head coach of Việt Nam, and the Vietnamese flag is on my chest now. Honestly, I want to beat them,” he answered.

Presenting at the ceremony on Friday, captain Trường said the whole team had suffered no pressure but felt confident ahead of the competition.

“We worked hard with heavy practice. We know three rivals are strong, but we are keeping our minds fresh. I think we will do a good job,” he said.

The team will leave for China on Monday. They will have about 10 days to get familiar with the weather and terrain.

On January 4, they will play a friendly match against Palestine, which is their final test for the Asian event.