The untold story of the only Vietnamese player playing in the middle of the 'Western jungle' of Nam Dinh Club

In the victory over Ratchaburi (3-1) at AFC Champions League 2 last night, Nam Dinh Club only played with 1 domestic player, midfielder Ly Cong Hoang Anh.

Nam Dinh Club's only domestic player

When Nam Dinh Club registered 11 foreign players to serve AFC Champions League 2, and the tournament's regulations allowed teams to use unlimited foreign players, many people imagined that Coach Vu Hong Viet would field all 11 "Westerners" in the opening match against Ratchaburi (Thailand), which took place last night at Thien Truong Stadium.

The reality was almost as predicted. Coach Vu Hong Viet deployed 10 foreign players, leaving only 1 starting position for a Vietnamese player. That was midfielder Ly Cong Hoang Anh, the silent hero in the 2-time V-League championship 2023 - 2024 and 2024 - 2025 of Nam Dinh Club.

Ly Cong Hoang Anh (third from right, bottom row) is the only Vietnamese player chosen by coach Vu Hong Viet to start.

PHOTO: MINH TU

At Thien Truong Stadium, the "pepper" midfielder was lost among 10... Westerners when the entire Nam Dinh team stepped onto the field. However, that was the difference that honored Ly Cong Hoang Anh's ability. Nam Dinh Club has 11 foreign players (not counting the new player Kristoffer Normann Hansen who just joined on September 16) and is capable of registering all 11 starting positions for the "Westerners".

However, Mr. Vu Hong Viet still kept a place for a domestic player, which can only be a player that even foreign players cannot easily take over. That is Hoang Anh.

Despite his modest height of 1.68 m, Hoang Anh is a real "sweeper" in the midfield of Nam Dinh Club. The midfielder born in 1999 has played 51 of Nam Dinh's last 56 matches in V-League, scoring 8 goals.

From being a "supporting actor" when he first moved from Binh Dinh (now Quy Nhon United), Hoang Anh convinced coach Vu Hong Viet to give him a starting position thanks to his professional attitude and tireless fighting spirit.

Not the type of midfielder who organizes or creates with game-changing passes, Hoang Anh makes up for it with his diligence. The 26-year-old midfielder always appears at every hot spot, fiercely and fiercely competing, becoming the "shuttle" that helps Nam Dinh's midfield always be full of fighting spirit.

Previously, Hoang Anh only made his mark with his dynamism in the midfield, but in the 2024 - 2025 season, the former Ha Tinh midfielder's scoring instinct was discovered. Coach Vu Hong Viet assigned him the role of penetrating the penalty area to score. 6 goals, including valuable goals against Quang Nam , Thanh Hoa or Becamex TP.HCM... all played an important role in helping Nam Dinh overcome difficult turns.

Hoang Anh (white shirt) competed fiercely despite being only 1.68 m tall.

PHOTO: MINH TU

At Thien Truong Stadium on the evening of September 17, Hoang Anh proved why he was the only domestic player in the starting lineup. The 26-year-old player completed his mission in the midfield, when he fought and intercepted fiercely, becoming the "explosive point" of the ball rotation, opening up space for Percy Tau, Marlos Brenner, Caio Cesar or Mahmoud Eid to attack the Ratchaburi defense.

Times create heroes

Perhaps in his dreams, Ly Cong Hoang Anh never thought he would win the V-League twice and wear the Vietnamese national team jersey like he does now.

Inside the midfielder who is not even 1.7 m tall is a huge amount of inner strength, which has helped the player from Hoa Binh (now Phu Tho) to take his first steps on the football path at the age of 10, to now become one of the best midfielders in Vietnamese football today.

Few people know that Hoang Anh missed out on a prestigious training center in Vietnam, and then joined the Hanoi youth academy. He was in the same generation as Pham Tuan Hai, Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Nguyen Van Vi, Le Van Xuan, Le Xuan Tu... in the 1998-1999 season, playing for Hanoi B in the second division, under the guidance of coach Pham Minh Duc.

After "changing residence" to Ha Tinh Club, Hoang Anh and the young Hanoi team packed up and headed to the Central region. On the dry, uneven field, the midfielder born in 1999 and his teammates kept practicing day by day.

Each training session of Coach Pham Minh Duc is very physical, requiring fighting spirit and determination no less than real football. It is Mr. Duc's harsh coaching style that has created a generation of solid and "iron" players, such as Tuan Hai, Hoang Anh or Van Vi (Hoang Anh's teammate in Nam Dinh). Ha Tinh won the 2019 first division championship and competed for the 2020 V-League title, right in the first season of promotion, with the core of Hoang Anh in the midfield.

From "wandering" from one furnace to another, trying to gain a foothold in the V-League at the age of 21, then joining the national team and being... sent back in 2021, fate has repeatedly knocked down Ly Cong Hoang Anh.

But, the midfielder of Nam Dinh FC refused to give up. He still rose up, and now, firmly in the "Western sky" of the Southern team to nurture the dream of AFC Champions League 2.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chuyen-chua-ke-ve-cau-thu-viet-duy-nhat-da-chinh-giua-rung-tay-clb-nam-dinh-185250918145420985.htm