TIGER FATHER BEGINS TIGER SON

Vietnamese football is not short of talented father-son pairs, but perhaps the most famous are Mr. Le Van Tam and his son Le Huynh Duc. Mr. Le Van Tam used to be a talented striker for the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry team, with quick and skillful dribbling moves. It was his passion for football and the guidance of Mr. Tam "Hue" that contributed to creating one of the most famous strikers in Vietnam. Born in 1972 in a family with a football tradition, Le Huynh Duc soon revealed his talent despite not being trained in a formal school. He joined the youth team of Military Zone 7 and demonstrated his ability with delicate, neat touches, dribbling, and sharp shots. However, unlike his "tiger father" Le Van Tam, his "tiger son" Le Huynh Duc tended to stay in the middle and later became the most versatile striker in the history of Vietnamese football.

PHOTO: DOCUMENT

Besides his legs that experts can tell at a glance are "hereditary", Le Huynh Duc also possesses a modern football mindset. Although he has the advantage of stature and height, his outstanding advantage is his ability to choose a smart position and skillfully shield the ball, which was rare at that time. While players at that time mainly played towards the goal, he was very good at playing with his back. This former player could keep and then pass the ball back to the second line, could coordinate well with teammates, but was also strong enough to fight independently, attacking and scoring goals. That was the quality that accompanied him from the time he became famous in the Ho Chi Minh City Police team (in 1995) with 60 goals in the national A1 tournament, until he became a part of the golden generation of Vietnamese football from 1996 to 2002.

T GOLDEN CENTER

PHOTO: DOCUMENT

Coach Mai Duc Chung praised Le Huynh Duc: "He has a muscular, ideal body, but his football skills are very skillful, diverse and not crude. It is not easy to find a well-rounded player who possesses many qualities like Huynh Duc. A pure gold striker, truly talented that Vietnamese football has had to wait a long time to find."

Thanks to his brilliant performance in the Ho Chi Minh City Police team, Huynh Duc quickly made it onto the Vietnam national team roster and won over even the most demanding coaches. Everyone was fascinated by the style of the young man with the generous and elegant football style of Ho Chi Minh City. He combined with Nguyen Hong Son to form the best attacking duo, together winning the silver medal at the 18th SEA Games in 1995, the 20th SEA Games in 1999, and the silver medal at the Tiger Cup in 1998. "Huynh Duc and Hong Son had a strange understanding. Whenever one held the ball, the other would automatically move into the empty space. They coordinated smoothly, one passed the ball and the other shot, creating a famous attacking duo that made all of Southeast Asia wary in the late 1990s," coach Mai Duc Chung recalled.

Natural talent has created one of the most versatile strikers that Vietnamese football has ever produced. However, Huynh Duc is not only as good as many other monsters, but also goes down in history thanks to his extraordinary efforts. His teammates and coaches in the past will never forget the Saigon boy with a romantic appearance, but once on the field, he became a "machine" with extreme discipline and strictness. He is dedicated to his career, conscious of taking care of his health, nutrition, and physique to maintain incredible stability: winning 3 Vietnamese Golden Balls (1995, 1997, 2002), 3 Vietnamese Silver Balls (1998, 1999, 2000), and the record of participating in 5 consecutive Tiger Cups (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004). These are all achievements that many juniors can only wish for.

Before Vietnamese football witnessed the 2008 AFF Cup championship generation, or later the golden generation led by coach Park Hang-seo, Huynh Duc became a role model for star players.

PHOTO: DOCUMENT

Le Huynh Duc, n "STEEL" MAN

Le Huynh Duc's football career can be written into a legend with all the joys, anger, love, and hate. Possessing a perfect career, he still continues to conquer new milestones. In 2001, he went to Chongqing Li Fan (China) on loan to become the first Vietnamese player to go abroad. His career has also gone through many storms but he always knows how to overcome them. After each incident, the striker who once delighted many fans became more mature and stronger.

Huynh Duc started his coaching career in 2008. Da Nang FC had just parted ways with coach Phan Thanh Hung after a losing start in the V-League, and Huynh Duc was chosen as his replacement. It was a controversial decision by Mr. Hien, because Huynh Duc was inexperienced (only 36 years old) and had never coached at the top level. However, one dared to believe, the other dared to do. He jumped into the "sinking ship" and created a miracle by taking Da Nang FC from the bottom of the table to fourth place, winning 42 points after only 23 matches in charge.

In the period of 2009 - 2012, Da Nang Club recruited a series of talented players such as Phuoc Vinh, Hai Lam, Quoc Anh, Minh Phuong, Vu Phong, Thanh Hung..., along with extremely talented foreign players such as Gaston Merlo, Almeida, Rogerio. The Han River team needed a talented and authoritative general to manage the players with rich personalities, and Huynh Duc was the chosen name. With a close management style (sometimes harsh) and open tactical thinking, he built the Da Nang Club team to play with the most solidarity and dedication in history. Two V-League championships in 2009, 2012; National Cup 2009; V-League silver medal in 2013 and V-League bronze medal in 2011, 2016 are the pieces that make up one of the most successful coaches in the history of Vietnamese football.

It is not too much to say that Huynh Duc is like the "King Midas" of Vietnamese football, everything he touches turns into pure gold. Some people say he is also lucky, when he came to Da Nang Club at the right time when the team received heavy investment. However, it is not by chance that he was chosen to be the one to entrust the gold. He has enough reputation, prestige, and eccentricity to understand all the tricks of the players to find a cure. He also has clear likes and dislikes, principles and is respected for his scope. Unfortunately, Huynh Duc's second phase at Da Nang Club (from 2018 - 2021) or a short year at Binh Duong Club (2023 - 2024) is no longer smooth sailing. After leaving Binh Duong team, he is still resting and waiting for a new opportunity. (to be continued)