Pham Huynh Tam Lang: The gallant 'steel' center back

Over the past 50 years since the country was unified, Vietnamese football has produced many outstanding talents. And it is these legends who have contributed to the development of the country's football as it gradually integrates with the world.

Speaking of Pham Huynh Tam Lang, experts and fans all admire his special talent, as well as his dedication and devotion to work, always showing a high sense of responsibility. He is a shining example of civilized behavior on the field and in real life.

Coach Tam Lang (standing row, left cover)

Captain Pham Huynh Tam Lang (in white shirt, in contention) in the match between Ho Chi Minh City team and the Soviet Union (former) team

Photo: Document

Coach Pham Huynh Tam Lang (right cover) when leading Saigon Port team

PHOTO: DOCUMENT

S HAS A SMART, ELEGANT GAMEPLAY

Pham Huynh Tam Lang was born in 1942 in Go Cong (now Tien Giang ). His career started from school football with the first team he played for being Petrus Ky High School (now Le Hong Phong School - Ho Chi Minh City). When he was only 15 years old, he played for the Cho Lon Star team and 3 years later, he was called up to the Southern team thanks to his special qualities. He left an indelible mark, the most resounding achievement of which was winning the Merdeka Cup with the Southern team in 1966. He was famous as a talented "steel" center back, an extremely solid stopper, a pillar for his teammates.

Vietnam national team coach Riedl and his effective collaborator Pham Huynh Tam Lang

PHOTO: DOCUMENT

After 1975, he played for the Saigon Port football team for more than half a decade and became even more famous for his extremely valuable qualities. Famous not only for his professional level but also for the way he cared for his profession. Pham Huynh Tam Lang always created a very beautiful image on the field, from his playing style (fierce but not rough, not making ugly fouls) to his uniform (neat, exemplary). Playing in the center-back position, Pham Huynh Tam Lang, with his tall and slender figure, possessed a modern playing style, marking people very wisely, covering well, judging situations well, and rarely revealing weaknesses for opponents to exploit. His former partner in the Saigon Port team, center-back Le Dinh Thang, always had special respect for his senior. Mr. Thang praised the "steel wall" Pham Huynh Tam Lang for playing intelligently, firmly and delicately. He always had extremely skillful tackles, flying into opponents' feet like a scorpion, but mostly without making any fouls.

Coach Pham Huynh Tam Lang RICH IN EMOTION

When he was no longer playing, he became the coach of the Saigon Port football team after a training course in the Federal Republic of Germany. And in more than 20 years of leading the team, he and his students won 4 national championships - an extraordinary achievement. Among them were some surprising championships, such as the 1986 season, coach Pham Huynh Tam Lang did not have a strong force. The Saigon Port team at that time was mostly inexperienced players, newly graduated from the Gifted School such as Dang Tran Chinh, Vo Hoang Buu, Ha Vuong Ngau Nai, Phan Huy Khai, Pham Van Tam, Dang Tran Phuc. But under his excellent leadership, the team was convincingly crowned...

Center back Pham Huynh Tam Lang (standing row, third from right) wears the captain's armband of the Ho Chi Minh City team.

PHOTO: DOCUMENT

He was loved by the audience and respected by his students for his bright personality as a teacher. He was affectionate, behaved politely, and did not raise his voice to anyone. He was always warm, gentle, tactful, lived in harmony, and devoted himself to his juniors and players. Many of his students later recounted that Mr. Tam Lang always had a high sense of discipline, but when an incident related to the team occurred, while everyone's spirit was wavering, he himself took responsibility for it all even though he had nothing to do with the students' actions. He was always brave and showed responsibility to protect the players. But he was also very strong when analyzing the things that his students had not done so that they could correct their mistakes and quickly improve. Former player Lu Dinh Tuan was once "invited" to leave the Gifted School because of his small physique, but it was coach Tam Lang who accepted him and just a few years later "turned" him into "Vietnam's Maradona" as the Hong Kong press had dubbed him in 1993.

COMPLETE TALENT AND VIRTUE

Pham Huynh Tam Lang was proposed many times by the Sports Department, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and the National Coaches Council to be the head coach of the national team in the 1990s and early 2000s, but he humbly refused. He once shared that he was not afraid to face difficulties, but at that time Vietnamese football had many talented, brave and experienced domestic coaches such as coaches Vu Van Tu, Tran Binh Su, Tran Duy Long, Nguyen Van Vinh or Le Dinh Chinh, so he wanted Vietnamese football managers to assign tasks to them. Later, when the VFF invited foreign coaches such as Karl-Heinz Weigang, Alfred Riedl, Colin Murphy or Dido, he did not hesitate, willing to be a collaborator to support and contribute part of his efforts to the team.

Coach Pham Huynh Tam Lang

This receptive attitude further helps Tam Lang's image to be engraved in the hearts of fans. An assistant coach of the Vietnamese team spoke about him with all admiration: "I have worked with Mr. Tam Lang through many foreign coaches and really admire his talent and personality. Coach Tam Lang is always straightforward and very responsible for his work. He rarely talks about himself and often avoids receiving compliments because he often thinks that football is a collective game, no individual should be praised. Especially coaches must step back to give that reward to the collective of players."

Throughout his career as a player or later as a coach, he always advised his juniors to constantly learn and strive to improve their skills and ethics. He always reminded the players to work hard, to develop their qualities to build a beautiful culture, to behave well on the field, to absolutely not be hot-tempered and to know how to control their emotions in situations. A foreign coach once commented on coach Pham Huynh Tam Lang: "What he has worked hard to make Saigon Port Club become a powerful symbol of Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country's football is truly commendable. Pham Huynh Tam Lang is a manifestation of intelligence, kindness and perseverance. I know that he is a very hard-working person, regularly attending training classes, self-studying knowledge and foreign languages. Tam Lang is respected by everyone for both his talent and virtue on and off the field. From his personality to his character, it can be said that he is the Beckenbauer of Vietnam. He deserves to be one of the most typical players of Vietnamese football". (to be continued)

Pham Huynh Tam Lang was born in 1942 and passed away on June 2, 2014 at the age of 72. He played for the teams Ngoi Sao Cho Lon, Viet Nam Thuong Tin, AJS (before 1975) and Cang Sai Gon (after 1975), won the Merdeka 1966 with the Southern team. He was a coach from 1983 to 2008 for the teams Cang Sai Gon, Thanh Long (HCMC), and an assistant coach for the Vietnamese team from 1993 and many generations of foreign coaches until 2004.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/pham-huynh-tam-lang-trung-ve-thep-hao-hoa-185250420233547461.htm