Center fullback Nguyen Van Mong practices at the Ho Chi Minh City Veterans Club.

In exactly 10 years with the national team, Nguyen Van Mong managed to gather an impressive collection of silverware.

Mong, now 62, participated in four consecutive Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games from 1967-1973 and won the biennial tournament’s silver medal in 1967 and 1973.

He competed at the Asian Games in 1966 and 1970, participated in the 1968 Olympics qualifier and was in the South Vietnam team that shared the Singapore Presta Sukan championship with India in 1971 when the two teams drew 0-0 after the normal 90 minutes and agreed to share the title.

Mong came from Long An Province’s Can Giuoc District to play for Saigon’s Thuong Khau club but after a short time he was selected to play for the South Vietnam squad in 1965 when he was 19 years old.

“My debut in the South Vietnam squad in 1965 was against Denmark champions Odense,” Mong recalls, “I played as a striker on the right flank.”

“The Danish rivals took the lead very soon and were looking to double the score with relentless attacks.

“But we kept calm after being nervous in the first few minutes. About halfway through the first half, I took a bad pass by a Danish defender and fired off a powerful shot some 40 meters away from the goal.

“It went in and lots of people rushed up to embrace me to celebrate. I was very happy.” The match ended in a draw.

Despite his striking powers, Mong became most famous for his aerial prowess, and soon everyone knew him as “the Golden Head.”

At first, Mong played as a forward, but the then South Vietnam team coach from Germany Karl Heinz Weigang found him a fast player with excellent aerial capabilities, so he put Mong alongside Tam Lang in the defense.

Mong said, “At first, I was worried and uncomfortable because I was used to running and trying to get around defenders; but as a defender, I had to keep close to the opponent strikers.

“Gradually, I found I could become a key player if I knew how to improve myself as a center fullback.

“I tried to practice jumping and stopping the ball accurately in midair at the heights I wanted. I stood 1.70 meters but I was not afraid of taller strikers.”

Among Mong’s many fond memories is a match against Japan in an Olympics qualifier in Tokyo in 1968 when he was successful in keeping 1.92m-tall Japanese striker Kawamoto at bay.

“South Vietnam was in a hard group with Japan, South Korea, Lebanon, Taiwan and the Philippines.

“We thrashed the Philippines 10-0, beat Taiwan 3-0, drew 1-1 with Lebanon but lost to Japan and South Korea. I was assigned to keep close to Kawamoto and I did not allow him to play his game during the match though I was some 20 centimeters shorter than him.

“Unfortunately, we conceded a goal in the final minutes. However, I was pleased to have fulfilled my task of preventing Kawamoto from scoring a goal.”

Passion for Vietnamese football

Mong, who scored a total 22 goals in his footballing career, hung up his cleats in 1978. He wanted to help train the younger generation, so he ran from pillar to post to get a piece of land, but failed.

In 1991, Mong emigrated to the US with his family; but returned after just nine months and three days because he was eager to do something for the growth of Vietnamese football.

Mong managed to buy a piece of land in Da Phuoc Commune in HCMC’s Binh Chanh District in 1993. At first, he was very short of money, so he just gathered his veteran friends to practice. Then, his desire grew stronger and the Da Phuoc Football Training School came into existence in 1997. It was the first model of a private football training center. Now many wealthy businesspeople have begun to invest in the field.

“At that time, we invested billions of dong in the school but collected returns in pennies because the fees were low and some poor youths came to train for free.

“Luckily, a German coach at Cologne Club liked my ways and sent US$500 every month. Additionally, I got financial support from my family and friends.”

The school also taught the trainees a lot of discipline and moral lessons so many parents liked to send their boys to attend it.

However, it ran short of funds and closed last year.

Mong, who lives in HCMC’s District 5 and plays for the city veterans’ club, says: “I still feel terrible about the closure but I had no choice. Now, I’ve rented it to cover the maintenance costs and am waiting for another chance to start operations again.”

Reported by Quang Tuyen