VietNamNet Bridge – As the only Vietnamese football player who received a scholarship for a three-year course at the Aspire Football Institute in Qatar, Nguyen Thai Sung has passed half of the road, with obvious improvement.
Thai Sung, 16, from the central city of Da Nang, passed thousands of teen football players in Asia in the “Football Dream 2009” competition to win the scholarship. He is also the first Vietnamese player who obtains the scholarship.

Thai Sung recently returned to Vietnam for his summer holiday. He told local newspapers about his first days in Qatar.

“I and a Thai friend, who were born in 1994, are arranged to study in the same course with many African players who were born in 1996. However, when we joined them, these players had studied for two or nearly three years at the institute so they play football very well,” Sung said.

Sung’s class includes 19 students, trained by seven European coaches. “Each coach is in charge of a field. They work in a scientific and organized style, from eating to filming, to healthcare, etc,” Sung said.

Sung has to practice football in the morning and on the afternoon. He studies English or relaxes in the evening. “All players are taken care of. The institute’s facilities are very modern. This is a wonderful environment for football practice,” Sung added.

Thai Sung, 1.68m, is the smallest member in his class. After the first month like a fish out of water, Sung has gradually integrated into his class.

From a left-wing halfback, Sung has become a right-wing halfback, after drilling trips in Sweden and Ireland. These are positions that do not require physical strength, but techniques and tactics.

“African players are very tall and strong. They can run for 90 minutes without being tired. Their physical strength is even better than players of the Vietnamese national squad,” Sung said.

Sung said he does not feel a complex about his physical strength because that disadvantage can be compensated by creativeness. “But, I have to practice weight-lifting to improve my physical strength,” he said.

“There are many great exercises to develop different techniques. But it is very special that all exercises highlight creativeness and tactics. That’s why I’m not afraid of African players who are bigger and taller than me.
“I hope that many more young footballers of Vietnam to be selected for the course in Qatar because this is a very good football training environment. After leaving the institute, they can return to Vietnam to help the home country’s football,” Sung said.

The “Football Dreams” program seeks football talent and has been held for three years in Asia and Africa, with participation by coaches from young teams of Barcelona club, who discovered current football stars like Lionel Messi, Giovani dos Santos and Bojan Krkic.

In Vietnam, the program is organized by Aspire Training Center in Qatar and the Vietnam Football Federation. Aspire Institute is the world’s largest football training center. It was built in 2006 to serve the Asian Games, at a cost of more than $2 billion.  

Vietnam joined this program the first time in 2008 and Thai Sung is the only one who won the program’s scholar so far.

PV