When HAGL no longer has the golden generation of players

Minh Vuong will leave HAGL after the 2024/25 V.League ends. Photo: HAGL .

Midfielder Tran Minh Vuong will part ways with HAGL after the 2024/25 season ends. His next destination is said to be Binh Phuoc , an ambitious team currently playing in the First Division.

The midfielder, born in 1995, has played 24 matches this season, scoring 3 goals and is the "locomotive" in the playing style of the mountain town team. After more than a decade of association, Minh Vuong has not only stood out thanks to his expertise but also his dedication, once famous for the saying "spending all his youth to stay in the league".

Along with Minh Vuong, Chau Ngoc Quang is also expected to leave Pleiku Stadium. This duo is considered the soul of HAGL's midfield, replacing Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, and Tuan Anh who left before.

Previously, the golden generation of players born in 1995-1996 of HAGL left the mountain town one after another, including Nguyen Cong Phuong, Nguyen Van Toan, Nguyen Tuan Anh, Nguyen Phong Hong Duy, Vu Van Thanh and Luong Xuan Truong. Among them, Cong Phuong, after leaving Yokohama FC, joined Binh Phuoc and is in impressive form. In the First Division team, Cong Phuong was given a lot of space and trust to find himself again. He scored 7 goals in 18 matches, returning to the national team after nearly a year and a half of absence.

Van Toan, Tuan Anh and Hong Duy are currently playing for Nam Dinh Club. Here, they have found their first title in their club-level career with the 2023/24 V.League championship and are facing the opportunity to step up to the highest position for the second time. This is something they have never touched at HAGL. Van Toan is a breakthrough factor, Hong Duy maintains stable performance and Tuan Anh also has a good performance every time he plays.

Van Thanh, one of the names that has maintained his form, is currently a mainstay at CAHN. The player from Hai Duong won the V.League championship with the Public Security team in the 2023 season and continued to play consistently in the next 2 seasons. Along with Van Toan, Van Thanh is one of the 2 rare players who have maintained stable form and regularly participated in the Vietnam national team in the past 3 years.

HAGL faces the problem of finding the next generation of golden players. Photo: HAGL .

Luong Xuan Truong was also one of the biggest symbols of the U19 HAGL team. Currently, the player from Tuyen Quang plays for Ha Tinh. Although he is no longer at his peak, Xuan Truong still plays a good role in the midfield of the Central team.

After round 26, Minh Vuong and Ngoc Quang, the last players in the golden generation of HAGL, left, leaving the mountain town team facing a big personnel problem. After the generation that made waves in the 2014 Southeast Asian U19 tournament, the successors such as Dung Quang Nho, Phan Du Hoc, and Tran Bao Toan have only played averagely, not creating a clear breakthrough compared to the V.League level.

The two names recently called up to the national team, Ly Duc and Trung Kien, are mainly to learn and gain experience. At the club level, they still need people like Minh Vuong or Ngoc Quang to guide, share pressure and unite the playing style.

In terms of current strength, HAGL cannot be compared to the top group of V.League. They lack squad depth and stars capable of creating breakthroughs. The 2021 season is perhaps the most memorable milestone left by the golden generation of HAGL, when they led the rankings before the tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After that, they also played with great effort in the AFC Champions League 2022, achieving impressive results against strong Asian teams.

The gradual farewell to the iconic generation of players opens a new challenging period for HAGL. The mountain town team will have to answer two big questions: first, can they continue to find a generation of talented players like Cong Phuong's generation? Second, if they can't, will they dare to spend money to bring in "blockbuster" contracts to compete fairly for the title?

From a football academy that pioneered youth football, HAGL is now under pressure to change to survive in the V.League. Without the heroes of the past, Pleiku Stadium needs new stars, both from the training ground and from the transfer market, to continue the romantic football story that once captivated fans.

Source: https://znews.vn/khi-hagl-khong-con-lua-cau-thu-vang-post1556215.html