SLNA players: 'Coach Ngo Quang Truong hit me because he loved me'
"This is a lesson for me about manners, noble sportsmanship and respect for opponents," Anh Duc told MetaSports this morning of August 24.
Two days ago, during the match at Ba Ria Stadium, Anh Duc ran to Viettel technical area to celebrate after SLNA raised the score to 3-2. Thinking that the student deliberately provoked the opponent, coach Quang Truong ran over and hit Anh Duc with an empty water bottle. Members of the training board of Viettel and SLNA players had to intervene.
Mr. Truong then took the initiative to shake hands and apologize to Team Leader Nguyen Hai Bien and Viettel's Training Board.
About being "taught" right on the field, Anh Duc said: 'Coach Quang Truong did so out of love and wanted good for me. After the game, the two teachers and students talked to each other. I apologized to the teacher for my impulsive action, and he also apologized to me for my rash reaction."
According to the 14-year-old defender, coach Quang Truong wants the two teachers and students to put aside the old story and focus on expertise. In the final yesterday, Anh Duc was still ranked as the main stone. This match SLNA lost to PVF 0-5, unable to defend the throne won in 2022.
Coach Quang Truong and Anh Duc have only worked together since June but have spent 16 qualifying matches until the end of the final round of the National U15 tournament. Before that, he was on the staff of the SLNA team to win the National U11 Championship 2020 with coach Phan Tien Hoai, and was crowned the National U13 2022 with coach Dang Van Tuong.
Besides coach Quang Truong, Anh Duc also received a lot of advice from relatives, including his parents and cousin Pham Xuan Manh - SLNA first team player and Vietnam national team player. "Parents do not defend, but also advise that young people have many mistakes, so I need to learn from experience," Anh Duc said. "Mr Xuan Manh also texted, saying that this is a lesson for me not to act like that in the future."
Coach Quang Truong was born in 1972, is a famous former midfielder of Nghe An football and the Vietnamese team from 1993 to 2003. After that, he stayed at the club to train youth. The 51-year-old leader has two periods as the head coach of the SLNA first team, 2014-2016 and 2020-2021, alternating between being the technical director of Hai Phong Club in 2018 and 2019.
According to a representative of SLNA, coach Quang Truong's philosophy is to develop professional skills in parallel with personality training, and wants the students to have ethics before becoming a good player.
