From unknown player to star after 9 months

From obscurity to unexpected opportunity

Nguyen Thai Son in the U23 Vietnam team shirt.

Nguyen Thai Son is 20 years old this year, not too young for fans to call him a prodigy. In the past 10 years, many teenage players have debuted in the V-League. Quang Hai, Duy Manh, Tuan Anh, Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Van Toan, Van Thanh... all appeared in the V-League when they were only 18-19 years old.

Compared to a series of names that have become part of the history of Vietnamese football in recent years, Thai Son can hardly be compared. Looking from the starting point, the midfielder from Nhu Xuan, Thanh Hoa is somewhat more obscure than his peers, let alone compared to the "child prodigies" of the past decade.

What can be considered the most memorable for Thai Son, before entering the 2023 season, is probably that he wore the captain's armband of the Vietnam U18 team 3 years ago, also under the guidance of coach Philippe Troussier at that time.

Thanks to his dynamism, enthusiasm and perseverance, Thai Son received the sympathy of the French strategist. However, the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic interrupted Mr. Troussier's journey with U18 Vietnam. The opportunity for Thai Son to leave a mark in the hearts of fans went up in smoke.

Everything after that went quietly for Thai Son. In fact, some first and second division teams wanted him to temporarily leave Thanh Hoa to play on loan. But Thai Son was still single-mindedly devoted to his hometown team.

In 2021, in the context of Thanh Hoa's severe shortage of personnel in the first team due to injuries, Thai Son was the last possible option that assistant Svetislav Tanasijevic, who supported Mr. Ljupko Petrovic at that time, could use.

But it could be considered a surprising and interesting "return of the old man and the horse". Thai Son played very well in the match where Thanh Hoa was rated lower than Hanoi FC. The then unknown 19-year-old player made Hanoi FC's midfield exhausted by his aggressiveness in the dispute, skillful movement and decisiveness when entering the 16m50 box. Then in a moment of inspiration, Thai Son scored the equalizer 1-1 for the home team.

That potential performance combined with Thanh Hoa's lack of personnel helped Thai Son continue to play 3 more matches, when the Thanh team met B. Binh Duong , HAGL and Ha Tinh. In the last match of the season, against Ha Tinh, it was Thai Son who scored the honorary goal for the home team, in a match where Ha Tinh was more than 200% determined to stay in the league.

Hard training

But if we stop at that story, there will be no Thai Son explosion in 2023. A remarkable story happened before this year's season.

Thai Son's performance on the field is not bad at all, especially when he is still very young. Hopefully he will have a bright future with Vietnamese football. For me, Thai Son's style is close to Gundogan's style of play but of course at a different level. Thai Son is still far from Gundogan's level. He needs to practice hard and compete hard to improve himself.

Coach Velizar Popov

That was Thai Son, who initially seemed unable to stay on the strict selection list of new head coach Velizar Popov. It was only thanks to the assurances from several members of the Thanh Hoa team that Mr. Popov decided to keep Thai Son and try to give him a chance.

The appearance of fitness coach Udovenko in the coaching staff of the Thanh team can be seen as a huge turning point that brought Thai Son to a new level. He once shared with the media that, after only a few months of "fitness training" by Udovenko - a former Russian national track and field athlete, Thai Son had matured beyond expectations.

The days of heavy physical training such as running on sand, climbing mountains and yoyo-style exercises were continuously practiced by Thanh Hoa players. And from there, Thai Son began to mature over time.

Some Thanh Hoa players shared that in many endurance training sessions, Thai Son was always the one to finish first compared to his teammates. The ability to distribute strength and regulate movement, exercise, and rest helps Thai Son not only be persistent in movement but also know when to be fast, strong, and when to choose to recover.

Thanks to that, at the 2023 SEA Games, Thai Son immediately became known to fans when he "plowed" a distance of 11.4km in the match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Laos. Next, against Singapore, Thai Son ran tirelessly with a similar distance.

"Thai Son is one of the few young talents who has shown the most obvious progress since the beginning of 2023. His strong physique, skillful technique, and intelligent playing ability have helped Thai Son overcome the disadvantage of his height of 1.71m," commented former national player Nguyen Minh Phuong.

Famous but still keep the "country" quality

The question "which player is so persistent?" began to appear on social networks and mass media. Then Thai Son gradually received the attention of fans. But at that time, Coach Popov had a special "heart-winning" move with Thai Son.

Instead of immediately using him after the 2023 SEA Games effect, the Bulgarian coach suddenly "imprisoned" him on the bench for a few rounds. Many people could not help but wonder. Because at the same time, SHB Da Nang, Hanoi FC, SLNA, B.Binh Duong were all ready to trust the young player who had just returned from Cambodia.

An assistant to coach Popov shared that this coach was worried that Thai Son would become complacent and have star disease, and wanted Thai Son to understand that just because he made a splash in a tournament, he would not automatically have a starting position when he returned.

Responding to coach Popov's intention, Thai Son maintained his simple, rustic style, considering himself a young player, a supporting actor in a team of players with battle experience and football skills.

Thanks to Thai Son's professionalism, diligence and humility, coach Popov started to put him on the field at the crucial stage of the season. That was also the time when the 20-year-old midfielder showed his ability in the central midfield position, from his endurance in energy and skillful passing.

Thai Son was finally awarded the best young player of V.League 2023. That is a worthy reward for a breakthrough year. The interesting thing about Thai Son is that even though he has a bit of fame in his career, he still maintains the "rustic" quality like when he was unknown.

Until now, this midfielder is still teased by his friends as a "chicken" when standing in front of the media lens. Son "toi", Thai Son's nickname, is always stuttering, even to say a complete and clear sentence in front of the media, it takes him two or three times to do it. But it is the way Thai Son is shy and awkward that makes people love him even more...

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/tien-ve-nguyen-thai-son-tu-cau-thu-vo-danh-vut-sang-sau-9-thang-192230908173244883.htm