Vietnamese American expatriate footballer Lee Nguyen, who joined the Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) Club last month, has begun riding a motorbike for the first time in his 22 years.

Nguyen’s motorcycling days did not start too well as he gunned the engine the first time he mounted the bike and promptly tipped over almost immediately in a brief moment of terror.

However, he learned fast and was soon riding the motorbike as much as he could, beginning with the safe environment of his club’s training center.

Whenever he saw someone he knew, he would just nod hello at first as he didn’t dare let go of the handlebars in order to wave, he said.

Speaking to Thanh Nien, Nguyen said he loved driving the Nouvo and would try to get a riding license so he could travel around the Gia Lai capital of Pleiku on his motorbike.

Nguyen gets along well with his teammates, and is already close to Thai players Nirut and Thonglao. Nirut is teaching him the Thai language as well as Vietnamese, and the two often spend the evenings chatting so that the American expat can practice the languages.

Nguyen can speak Portuguese and Dutch and can understand people speaking in Vietnamese, but he can’t reciprocate yet. He hopes he can learn to speak his father’s language fluently to make his stay in Vietnam that much better, he said.

Reported by Quang Huy