Mr. Duc smiles again on Pleiku field

Mr. Duc's smile in the stands of Pleiku stadium

Round 3 of V-League 2024 - 2025, HAGL Club welcomed the defending champion Nam Dinh and witnessed a record number of spectators filling Pleiku Stadium. Among them, the mountain town fans were delighted to witness the return of Mr. Duc in the stands.

This was the first time Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc had attended a match at the home stadium of the mountain town team. Mr. Ba Duc was very happy, smiling and talking with those around him, shaking hands with the head coach of the Vietnamese team, Kim Sang-sik.

The excitement was clearly visible on Mr. Duc's face, as his team had a dream start with 2 wins (4-0 against Quang Nam Club, 2-0 against SLNA) and 1 draw against championship candidate Nam Dinh (0-0).

This result helps coach Le Quang Trai and his team temporarily maintain the top position for one more day, 3 points ahead of defending champion Nam Dinh and another very strong team, The Cong Viettel .

Fans' gratitude to Mr. Duc

More importantly, the team's dedicated and collective style of play has helped HAGL gradually regain the interest and trust of its home fans, as shown by Pleiku Stadium welcoming 7,000 spectators according to statistics from the V-League Organizing Committee.

Along with the busy business in the group and HAGL's unsatisfactory performance, in the past few years, Mr. Duc has been less likely to attend Pleiku matches.

According to HAGL fans, Mr. Duc only played a few times last season, usually quietly going to the field to watch the "kids" play and then leaving early, not happily calling the team in advance like on September 28.

Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc and Mr. Kim Sang-sik

PHOTO: Minh Tran

This season, HAGL said goodbye to Tuan Anh, Thanh Binh, Minh Binh, Duc Viet… but it did not affect the team’s strength and performance. In fact, HAGL is currently showing a passionate and powerful playing style thanks to the physical foundation that the duo Vu Tien Thanh - Le Quang Trai have prepared very well.

Above all, the team has now truly become a cohesive collective, all of them coming out onto the field and fighting side by side for each other, as they completely cut off the attacking lines of Nam Dinh Club, who took the field with 4 Westerners and a series of stars such as Tuan Anh, Van Toan, Hong Duy, Van Vu, Nguyen Manh...

This was reflected in Van Toan's praise after the match, when HAGL was no longer an unstable young team, but became a mature, responsible and clearly defined collective.

Although the beautiful ball control style of the past has faded, HAGL's technical style is gradually showing a new personality: short-touch passes, lightning-fast acceleration in situations of escaping pressing and quick counter-attacks.

HAGL now no longer plays the style of "losing is okay as long as it's beautiful" but has become more realistic, somewhat rougher and more fierce. But the way Mr. Duc happily came to the field to watch the match shows that he seems to be excited about the beauty of collective football that coach Le Quang Trai and his team are showing.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hagl-bau-duc-cuoi-tuoi-tro-lai-tren-san-pleiku-185240929132642998.htm