Nguyen Quy Suu seen in the match between Dong Thap and The Cong in the V.League 1 in 2009. Photo thanhnien.vn

He plays for Dong Thap in the V.League 2, however, unlike other footballers, he has spent his money to invest in growing rice.

After many years of playing football, he spent some of the money he earned buying 30,000sq.m of wet rice fields with his wife.

“Before buying land to grow rice, I also thought a lot about finding ways to invest. But the market was like a battlefield so I decided to go home to buy rice land. Rice cultivation is a sustainable investment, and if the crop fails, the Government will subsidise it. Humans multiply more and more but the land cannot produce more. On the other hand, when I was small, I often worked on the field so I believed I had enough knowledge about this field,” said Suu.

Suu said as he was born and raised in Dong Thap, a farmer, who loved football, sold his land to him at a cheap price.

The land quickly gained in value and within two years, Suu could have made half a billion by selling it, but he chose not to.

Suu revealed that he only makes a few tens of millions of dong for each rice harvest season after deducting seed money and work, but he and his wife are very satisfied.

Suu wants to keep the family tradition for years as well as stable firm income so he isn't entirely dependent on football for money.

As well as the rice fields, Suu also bought some land in his home town, meaning he works in football, farming and real estate.

While most retired players open football pitches or build hotels, Suu and his wife have taken a different path.

Football passion

Born in 1986, Suu played impressively at primary school and was selected to the U11 team in the province to attend the national championship in 1997 in which his team reached the final round.

After that, he was selected for the provincial U17 team to compete in the national championship in 2002 and Dong Thap took the title.

His performances earned him a call-up for the national team to play in the AFC U17 Championship qualifying round in 2002.

His first international competition was a challenge as Vietnam faced very strong opponents from South Korea, Pakistan, Yemen.

Suu played for Dong Thap until 2010 and then moved around the league before returning to his hometown team in 2017.

Goal to life

In 2003, under the guidance of coach Tran Cong Minh, Suu was considered a key player for Dong Thap and at the National U21 Tournament in 2003, they won a bronze medal.

Because of his skill, Suu played at the 2004 AFF U20 Championship in which Vietnam won the silver medal. Also that year, he was called up to the national team to prepare for the Tiger Cup.

In 2005, coach Alfred Riedl selected him for the national team to prepare for the Agribank Cup, Asian Games 15 in Doha and then SEA Games 23 in the Phillippines.

In 2007, Suu and the national team, led by coach Henrique Calisto, won a silver medal at the SEA Games 25 in Laos.

At that time, a series of young stars like Pham Van Quyen, Phan Thanh Binh, Phan Van Tai Em, Le Tan Tai, Huynh Quang Thanh and Mai Tien Thanh had emerged. The team's youth meant qualifying for an official competition was not easy at all but Suu was still a reassuring option to have for any coach.

Dong Thap people still remember Suu for one special goal in 2008.

In the playoff match on August 28 to gain a ticket to enter the V.League 1 against Binh Dinh, he scored the only goal in the match to help Dong Thap gain promotion.

“My family was all happy when I scored an important goal. My sister said that when she was watching TV and saw her brother's goal, she was so happy she almost fainted! At that time, I received many compliments and I was very happy,” said Suu. VNS

Mekong Delta rice farmers earn high income from rice straw

Rice farmers in the Mekong Delta are earning higher incomes from selling rice straw left over from the harvested 2019 – 20 winter-spring rice crop.

Mekong Delta faces rice crisis as exports are interrupted

Hundreds of thousands of tons of rice in Mekong Delta remain unsold as merchants have stopped collecting rice. Farmers fear the rice price will drop dramatically if Vietnam stops exporting rice.