Given the predilection those days for giving favorite players nicknames, Tha got one that was more apt than most. He was dubbed the “Mighty horse.”

Tha’s exceptional performance for Saigon Port in the midfield, along with Nguyen Van Muoi, was recognized in 1979 when he was called up for the national team to play in an international army tournament with many countries including Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. The next year, he and his national teammates, were sent to the then Soviet Union for training.

Compared with his peers at the club after 1975, including Tam Lang and Tu Le, Tha played the longest. He hung up his boots after winning the national championship with Saigon Port in 1986 when he was 39 years old.

However, he continued to work at the club as an assistant coach till 2003 after having made major contributions as a player for almost 30 years.

Speaking to Thanh Nien last week, the 62-year-old Tha, who participated in four consecutive biennial Southeast Asian Peninsular Games from 1967 till 1973 and won second place twice in 1967 and 1973, said, “My love for Saigon Port was so deep. After joining the club, I always did my best to give it a good reputation.

“Even when my peak time had passed, I still tried to play along with the younger players to encourage them.”

The young players liked to play with Tha because he worked hard and made neat passes from the right flank for them to score. He was one of the most important players in the team, with people looking to him to keep morale high in tough situations. He was also described as the player who kept the soul of the team.

Good in different positions

Not many players can play well in different positions, and with Tha not being very tall, it was good for him to play in the midfield. However, he was equally adept as a right back or a right forward.

Tha, a member of the team that won third place at the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia in 1967, said: “In 1967 German coach Karl Heinz Weigang, who was coaching South Vietnam, put me in the position of a right back to play against tall Australian strikers.

“Weigang said he relied on me because small defenders could play well if they were fast and skillful.

“He was right. I was fast and I could prevent big strikers from jumping to take headers. I became more confident after that.”

Later in the 18th Southeast Asian Games in 1995, Weigang was again successful in using a short Chi Bao as a defender, Tha remembers. Vietnam won the silver medal in that competition.

Tha, who was in the team that shared the Singaporean Petra Sukan championship in 1971 with India after the two teams drew 0-0 after 90 minutes and agreed to share the title, said that in the early 1970s, the 4-2-4 formation was popular and he was put on the right flank in the front line.

“I was fast and made good passes for strikers to score, so I was the right flank striker for a long time.”

Tha was very successful in this position in the South Vietnam Squad, making lots of neat passes to strikers Vo Thanh Son and Quang Duc Vinh; and later Tu Le and Tran Van Xinh.

Now, he lives with his wife and two daughters in HCMC’s District 7 and plays for the municipal veteran club every week.

The tireless footballer is not tired of football. “Football has been part of my life. I will play until I have no more energy for it.”

Reported by Quang Tuyen