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Midfielder Hùng's time to shine

Hard time

Hùng wasn't always so highly thought of though.

At the age of  一 一, Hùng began training with the Thanh Hóa provincial football gifted team, but a year later, he was deemed too young for full selection.

After the door of Thanh Hóa closed, another door opened, namely the PVF football training centre.

While his dream of becoming a profession layer seemed close, after two years, the  一 四-year-old boy that weighed less than  四 五kg did not meet the physical requirements of the PVF and was sent home.

However, Hùng wasn’t deterred.

Returning to his native land, he asked his cousin Mai Xuân Hợp, who played for Thanh Hóa at that time, to help him join Thanh Hóa junior team to train.

It was the turning point in his career.

Hùng received the attention of coach Nguyễn Thành Dũng of the junior team and he gradually developed under Dũng.

In  二0 一 六, Hùng was promoted to the senior team, however, he then was sent to a V.League  三 club, Phù Đổng FC, on loan.

A year later, he returned Thanh Hóa.

In his  first training session, Hùng caught the eyes of coach Ljupko Petrovic, who led Red Star Belgrade to the European Cup in  一 九 九 一.

"Hùng is a really talented player. He has a 'football quality'. You know, there are players that from the first meeting you will feel they have 'football quality' or not," said Petrovic.

When the door of the senior team was wide open, injuries became a obstacle, hindering Hùng's development. He couldn’t play with the senior team in  二0 一 七.

Coach Petrovic left Thanh Hóa after the team finished second in the V.League  一 in  二0 一 七. Without Petrovic, Hùng was once again sent to Phù Đổng for the  二0 一 八 season.

Last year marked Hùng's first year in the national top-flight.

After a successful  二0 一 九 season, Hùng is expected to kick on, once football can resume. VNS