A lump in my throat as I remember HAGL.

Compassionate sorrow

Not only are Tuan Anh and Van Toan the most outstanding talents of the first graduating class of the HAGL JMG football academy, but they have also been among the top promising talents in Vietnamese football over the past few years.

Yesterday afternoon (June 25th), after winning the V-League championship with Nam Dinh FC, they were overjoyed. Van Toan jumped for joy like a child, bringing his whole family from his hometown of Hai Duong to Nam Dinh to celebrate with him. But after the initial joy, Van Toan honestly shared: "I am very sad because I have never won the V-League championship with HAGL FC before."

Van Toan finally won the national championship title.

Van Toan celebrates with Nam Dinh fans.

But that's not the case at HAGL Club.

HAGL is where Van Toan and his teammates of the same generation, including Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong, Hong Duy, Van Thanh, Dong Trieu, and Minh Vuong, began their football careers. Now, they have gone their separate ways, taking different paths. This is part of professional football; the comings and goings, the arrival and departure of players, are inevitable. However, deep down, these players still yearn to lift the Vietnamese football championship trophy together, in the very place where they grew up, shaped their style, and achieved fame. A championship, if won with HAGL, would be their way of thanking Chairman Duc and the land from which they became who they are today. They regret not being able to do that with the team from the mountain town.

Control your emotions.

That's also Tuan Anh's feeling. That's also why, last evening, after all the laughter, Tuan Anh quietly took the gold medal off his neck, trying to restrain himself from touching the championship trophy. That was probably the moment Tuan Anh remembered Chairman Duc, wanting to show respect to him and to HAGL Club, which will surely always be in his heart.

Tuan Anh remains the same; he always seems more mature and melancholic than his teammates of the same age. Even when Cong Phuong left HAGL for Yokohama FC in Japan, Van Toan and Hong Duy joined Nam Dinh, and Van Thanh moved to Hanoi Police FC, Tuan Anh resolutely stayed at HAGL. He stayed solely to help Chairman Duc's team avoid relegation.

Tuan Anh also found joy while playing for Nam Dinh Club.

Fans in Nam Dinh celebrated the day Tuan Anh was crowned champion with Nam Dinh Club.

Tuan Anh only reluctantly left the team from the mountainous region to join Nam Dinh in the middle of the 2023-2024 season because… Chairman Duc wanted it that way, and because both Chairman Duc and Tuan Anh's new team, Nam Dinh, regretted the loss of Tuan Anh's talent. It would be a waste if such a talent didn't win any specific titles throughout his career.

Now, Tuan Anh, Van Toan, and Hong Duy have won the V-League championship with Nam Dinh, while Van Thanh had already won it with CAHN the previous season. It's clear that when the talents of HAGL leave and find suitable destinations, they quickly take off. But like Van Toan's statement, he wishes he had won the V-League championship with HAGL.

If only bầu Đức's team hadn't fallen so far behind the pace of domestic football over the past few years. Or, suppose that before these talented players reach the twilight of their careers in a few years, HAGL could recover and have the financial means to recruit them back to the mountain town, so they could together "hunt" for the V-League championship in the coming period, how wonderful that would be!

But the V-League trophy is also a well-deserved achievement for both Van Toan and Tuan Anh.

This could also be the ending, the final chapter of the most beautiful career of a generation of players who have stirred the hearts of so many Vietnamese football fans over the past decade. Fairly speaking, despite the ups and downs, the emergence of players like Tuan Anh, Van Toan, Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Hong Duy, Van Thanh… in 2013-2014 helped bring fans back to domestic stadiums after a period of stagnation in Vietnamese football and a time when fans lost faith in the sport. That generation deserves a happy ending!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khoanh-khac-lang-dong-trong-ngay-van-toan-tuan-anh-len-dinh-nghen-nghen-nho-ve-hagl-185240626132027457.htm