Remember the gold medal at SEA Games 18

Nguyen Huu Thang is attached to football through many positions: player, coach and manager. He spent the SEA Games 18 (1995), SEA Games 19 (1997) as a player of the Vietnamese national team and SEA Games 29 (2017) as a coach of the U22 Vietnam team. But the deepest impression for this former player born in 1971 was his days in Cheang Mai – the 18th SEA Games.

It was 1995, the first time Nguyen Huu Thang was called to the national team led by coach Weigang. SEA Games 18 on Cheang Mai land, Thang was in the same generation of “golden generation” as Huynh Duc, Hong Son, Do Khai, Cong Minh, Huu Dang … bringing indescribable emotions to NHM. At the tournament that year, Vietnam Tel suddenly made history when it won the first silver medal for Vietnamese football after many years of waiting for this regional medal.

“The first time I played an international tournament at the team level, I was very nervous and nervous. But when I entered the match, all problems passed quickly when I focused on the game’s happenings,” said the Chairman of the City Club. HCM Nguyen Huu Thang shared.

At the start of the tournament, Huu Thang and his teammates won a surprise victory over Malaysia with a score of 2-0. At this time, Malaysia is rated as the upper door compared to Vietnam Tel. After that, a 4-0 victory over Cambodia helped Vietnam get 6 points. In the next match, Huu Thang and his teammates lost to host Thailand 1-3. This defeat put him and his teammates in a difficult position. But efforts and determination helped Vietnam Tel overcome the difficult gate when defeating Indonesia with a score of 1-0.

In the semi-finals against Myanmar, the Vietnamese players made the fans burst when they beat their opponents 2-1 to advance to the final to meet Thailand again. Although knowing that this is a difficult match, Huu Thang and his teammates experienced a sad match when all efforts could not compensate for their ability. The Thai host at that time was too strong. Vietnamese players continuously conceded goals and collapsed in the final with the score 0-4.

Bringing back the historic silver medal for Vietnamese football at the 18th SEA Games, but this match was a hard-to-heal wound for historical witnesses at that time. It is an unforgettable bass note in the multi-step music in the life of famous player Nguyen Huu Thang.