Former football star Vo Ba Hung is still passionate when talking about football.

Midfielder Vo Ba Hung won a special place in the hearts of football fans throughout southern Vietnam in the late 1960s and early 70s.

Hung’s legs were unusual. They were small but his feet were huge, so large he had to have his shoes custom made.

And the nickname lasted: “Bird Legs.”

No one can be sure if it was his big feet that helped him control the ball so well, but either way, he was outstanding in the midfield.

Known for his neat passes that often split the defense and left strikers on their own with the goalies, Hung was often in the spotlight.

Hung competed at the biennial Southeast Asian Peninsular Games four times from 1967-73 and his team won the SEAP silver medal in 1967 and 1973. He also helped lead the South Vietnam squad to a tie with India at the Singaporean Petra Sukan tournament in 1971. They agreed to share the championship.

“I took up the sport later than many of my friends,” 61-year-old Hung told Thanh Nien last Wednesday. “But when I began playing competitive football, I was soon called up for the younger South Vietnam teams.

“In fact, my feet are not special, but when I put on a pair of cleats, I could harness all my emotions and spirit in my feet to make the passes I wanted.”

As a young rising star, he was chosen as the captain of AJS club and the South Vietnam team.

A chance meeting

Hung said one of the major events in his career was when he met German coach Karl Heinz Weigang, who would later lead Hung’s South Vietnam team to a championship at the Merdeka Cup in 1966.

Hung met Weigang when the coach was teaching at Cao Thang Technical School. Hung played for Van Hien School at the time.

“When talking with him, I admired him because I found he had an in-depth knowledge about football.”

When Hung joined the junior team, it was coach Weigang who took the squad to play in Japan.

Hung said Weigang knew just how to encourage his players and instill confidence.

“We had no previous achievements, but we were not afraid.”

Weigang left South Vietnam in 1968 and didn’t return until 1994 to coach Vietnam’s national men’s football squad. He took the team to a silver medal at the Southeast Asian Games the next year.

It was Hung that had suggested the Vietnam Football Federation make Weigang the national coach.

A new life

After the country was reunited in 1975, Hung played for Cong Nhan Hoa Chat club.

When the club dissolved in 1980, Hung became a coach for the Water Supply Company’s amateur team.

Hung then landed a job as the coach of the inaugural Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Veteran’s Team.

But Hung was also interested in the younger generation.

He spoke to late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet about developing a comprehensive training project for young footballers.

“Kiet praised the project,” Hung said. “And I submitted a plan to the city’s Football Federation. I waited and waited but there was no reply.”

Hung said he also wanted to open a center to not only train young players but also help veterans find jobs after the sport.

“But I was not given the opportunity by the municipal authority.”

Without a chance to train younger footballers, Hung turned to charity work by initiating a campaign that raised money for retired players who had trouble off the pitch.

Reported by Quang Tuyen