I just hope it's finished soon so I can go home.

In 2012, Vietnamese football fans were surprised and excited when four young talents from the first graduating class of the HAGL-Arsenal-JMG Academy were sent to train at the prestigious English Premier League club. The four players who went to Arsenal were Nguyen Cong Phuong, Luong Xuan Truong, Nguyen Tuan Anh, and Tran Huu Dong Trieu. Recently, in a podcast on his personal YouTube channel, Xuan Truong revealed for the first time details about his experience in England.

"For me, Tuan Anh, Cong Phuong, and Dong Trieu, that trip was nothing like a dream," Xuan Truong shared.

Four HAGL players went to Arsenal for training in 2012.

According to the former HAGL player, his selection to train at Arsenal was probably not the decision of manager Arsene Wenger (the highest-ranking official at Arsenal at the time). The reason is that the French coach did not appear during the friendly match between Arsenal U17 and HAGL U17, nor during the entire training period of the four players there.

According to Xuan Truong's account, shyness due to traveling abroad for the first time without an adult accompanying them, language barriers, and physical disadvantages caused the four young Vietnamese football talents at the time to face many difficulties in England.

"During this training camp, we were accommodated in a hotel, not at the club's house. When it was time for training, the club's car would pick us up. Every day, the four of us only arrived for training around 11 am because the weather was very cold then; the temperature would be highest at noon. After that, we had lunch in the team's dining room, and then the team's car would take us back to the hotel ," Xuan Truong recounted.

"The facilities at Arsenal are absolutely dreamlike. The first team and the youth teams train together on the same grounds, and the first team's training pitch is completely enclosed. They also have a dedicated pitch for friendly matches. The youth team's training ground consists of two 500-meter stretches of grass, enough to make ten standard 11-a-side pitches. We were completely blown away when we saw these pictures."

Regarding professional skills, Xuan Truong asserted that he and his teammates are far inferior in many aspects compared to players of the same age group at Arsenal's academy. This is quite different from the misconception of many people, as HAGL's youth team once defeated Arsenal's U17 and U19 teams in friendly matches.

"Hearing the results sounds very impressive, however, to be honest, I'm not sure if that's Arsenal's official youth team. I only know that they wore Arsenal shirts and played. When I, Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, and Dong Trieu went for separate training, their skill level was much higher than ours. In the squad I trained with at that time, there was also right-back Hector Bellerin and the world's best goalkeeper in 2023, Emiliano Martinez," Xuan Truong shared.

The midfielder, currently playing for Hai Phong FC, stated that he and his teammates only met the technical requirements. Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, and Dong Trieu demonstrated good ball-playing skills, even surpassing many of the Arsenal trainees. However, the physical fitness of the Vietnamese players was far inferior. The language barrier also limited their ability to communicate and learn during training sessions. In one running exercise, Xuan Truong and his teammates were left far behind by the entire Arsenal U19 team, by a full lap.

Xuan Truong and Cong Phuong in a friendly match against Arsenal's youth team.

"The intensity of their play is very fast, so we get tired quickly. Besides that, we had difficulty communicating. Throughout the two weeks of training, I felt like we were just training on borrowed time, without any official status, so I really felt like I didn't belong there. Although I know these are valuable moments to learn and gain experience, when I was on the training field there, there were times I just wanted to finish quickly and go home," Xuan Truong admitted.

"I didn't even make friends with anyone. When I went onto the pitch, I felt inferior in terms of physical fitness and skill, and that feeling of insecurity lasted for two weeks at Arsenal. For us, it could be considered an opportunity, but it was also a huge challenge. Facing those things was really not easy at all."

Due to the language barrier and difficulty integrating into the environment in England, Xuan Truong and his teammates experienced a lonely Christmas. Arsenal FC held a party in the team's dining hall. The group of four Vietnamese players were too shy to join in and instead went back to the hotel.

"Even now, I don't remember who the coach was during that training camp. Honestly, I don't have many memories. Back then, the language barrier also made me less confident than I am now. Many times, I wanted to ask how to play a particular ball, but I couldn't."

Even with simple questions, I was very hesitant to ask at the time. Maybe I could have asked, but I was afraid that if I asked and then they answered, I wouldn't understand anything. So if I made a mistake, I would just silently repeat it instead of asking. After that training trip, the Arsenal coaching staff didn't give any specific assessment of the abilities of the four of us," Xuan Truong recounted about the trip, admitting that even with more time, he wasn't sure he could have endured it.

The midfielder also admitted that at the time – when he was just 17 years old – he didn't believe he could last much longer.

"For me, it was just an experience. It was a matter of luck compared to others, but it doesn't mean I'm a better player than my peers, " Xuan Truong said.

Han Phong

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