Xuan Truong

Without Mr. Duc, there would be no Hoang Anh Gia Lai Football Club (HAGL) and there would be no Dream team with the core of Kiatisak storming all Vietnamese fields.

The glory of the 1.0 era

In the spring of 2002, Vietnamese media simultaneously flocked to Gia Lai before the event that Southeast Asia’s No. 1 player Kiatisak – the symbol of Thai football – returned to play for the mountain town team.

Not stopping at the “unbelievable contract” Kiatisak, Bau Duc also created a “Dream Team” with strong soldiers and generals from internal soldiers to foreign soldiers. Mr. Duc made history when HAGL became the first club in Vietnamese football history to win the national championship in the first season when promoted.

Not only did HAGL win the V.League 2003, but they also successfully defended the Vietnamese national championship title at the V.League 2004.

After a period of “making the top” to quickly build prestige and the HAGL brand, Bau Duc switched to “making the base”, that is, launching the HAGL JMG Arsenal Academy, a youth football training academy with lesson plans of JMG, Arsenal’s partner in 2007.

Six years later, in 2013, the first trained batch debuted and immediately created a fever, reviving the love of Vietnamese football in the hearts of fans.

That is the generation of famous names like Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong, Van Toan, Hong Duy, Van Thanh… wherever they go, they are loved and supported.

Through football, Mr. Duc has changed the image of Gia Lai, even Gia Lai people, especially students who go to school in other provinces and cities, are proud to introduce themselves as Gia Lai people. .

A flow will have an ebb

But unhappy things in business continuously and continuously hit Mr. Duc. From being the richest man in Vietnam on the stock exchange, Bau Duc fell into difficult financial circumstances.

But what makes everyone respect Bau Duc, especially those who love and understand Vietnamese football, is that no matter the circumstances, he never quit football.

20 years, investing more than 2,000 billion VND with the desire to make beautiful football, clean football, training players who are not only professionally good but also have ethics and education to behave well from inside to outside. Off the field, it’s no surprise that Bau Duc is loved by many people.

However, professional football always goes hand in hand with the power of money. When financial potential is no longer as abundant as before, the achievements of HAGL Club as well as the training quality of HAGL Academy gradually decline.

This season, HAGL Club continues to use young players, homegrown products trained by itself. Operating budget is limited, so HAGL cannot get quality contracts during the transfer season. From this fact, HAGL Club is always ranked at the bottom of the table.

Then Lien Viet Post Commercial Joint Stock Bank appeared and became HAGL’s partner in business as well as in football. The cooperative handshake between Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc and Nguyen Duc Thuy not only changes the “form” of the names HAGL Football Club and HAGL Football Academy into LPBank HAGL Club and LPBank HAGL Academy but also promises to change also “content”.

However, the love affair between LPBank and HAHL happened when the transfer window of V.League 2023/2024 was closed, so although the form is new with the new name LPBank HAGL, the content is still the same.

Then from HAGL to LPBank HAGL, through 6 matches, the mountain town team only earned 2 points with a record of 2 draws and 4 losses.

3 men with personality

So Mr. Duc and Mr. Thuy decided to invite Mr. Vu Tien Thanh to hold the position of Director of LPBank HAGL Football Academy. Mr. Thanh used to be Director of PVF Football Training Center, a youth training facility rated in the Top 3 continents by the Asian Football Federation, ranked only behind Qatar’s Aspire Academy and South Korea’s Hyundai.

Therefore, Mr. Duc and Thuy believe that Mr. Thanh has enough capacity to establish a comprehensive restructuring project of LPBank HAGL Academy from upgrading and repairing facilities, especially rebuilding training curriculum. young so that it is suitable for modern football and above all, effective.

Admiring Mr. Duc’s young football perspective and appreciating Mr. Duc and Thuy’s respectful invitation, Mr. Thanh immediately accepted without thinking.

However, after LPBank HAGL lost comprehensively 0-3 to Nam Dinh, extending a series of 7 matches with only draws and losses, Mr. Duc and Thuy strongly invited Mr. Thanh to take on the position of Technical Director of LPBank HAGL Club to Support coach Kiatisak to steer the LPBank HAGL boat through this difficult period before the team will change blood when the transfer door reopens.

There is one thing in common between Mr. Duc, Mr. Thuy and Mr. Tien Thanh: they are all straightforward, straightforward, decisive, dare to do and dare to take responsibility. They had many things in common so they soon found a common language.

A beautiful future in the 2.0 era?

The biggest thing these 3 strong men have in common is that whatever they do, they must maintain the HAGL – Kiatasak brand! And that is also the very clear opinion of Mr. Tien Thanh when accepting the position of Technical Director of LPBank HAGL team.

Gia Lai is Kiatisak’s second hometown, with just one phone call from Mr. Duc, Kiatisak is willing to be in Gia Lai to receive all tasks from Mr. Duc.

Kiatisak lives with love and meaning like that, plus Mr. Duc and Mr. Thuy are people who live with love, so all three Mr. Duc – Thuy and Thanh easily agree: They all support and create good conditions. so that Kiatisak can feel secure in leading LPBank HAGL.

With this vision, it is easy to understand why despite the addition of Mr. Thanh, there is no less person in LPBank HAGL’s technical area. Because the technical area is a bit more cramped, it is an image of solidarity that gives more strength to coach Kiatisak’s team.

LPBanh HAGL is still managed by CEO Nguyen Tan Anh, still the decisive voice of Coach Kiatisak, still the boys who have gone through 7 matches without knowing a win in the V.League. The difference is the addition of Technical Director Vu Tien Thanh, who worked continuously with all members of LPBank HAGL for 3 full days, especially with Mr. Tan Anh and above all coach Kiatisuk to find the best solution for LPBank. HAGL at this time.

And as we know, LPBank HAGL had their first victory in the V.League when they won convincingly against Hanoi team 2-0. But even more than that win, LPBank HAGL showed a completely different image, the players played with more enthusiasm, more dedication, stronger defense and more effective attack.

From this victory, or rather with this way of winning, it was a very positive result from the reasonable, reasonable and timely decisions of Mr. Duc and Mr. Thuy.

The fascinating story of “Bau Duc – LPBank HAGL – Kiatisak” in the 2.0 era has just begun…