Ba Den as The Cong coach in 2005-06.

“It’s Ba Den? No, he can’t be, father. He looks short and feeble. Only his legs look like Ba Den’s.”

His mother called Nguyen The Anh “Den” (black) and his friends called him Ba Den (Ba means three or third) because he was the third child in the family, and the name stuck.

Ba Den was small and short, and his father, former footballer Nguyen Van Thin A, did not want him to become a footballer. But the small son was strong-willed, and he persuaded his father to allow him to pursue his passion.

He went to Tu Son in Bac Ninh Province to ask to train at a center in 1966 but was refused because they said he was too small.

The next year, he knew that the The Cong club in Hanoi planned to send some youths to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, so he came to the club to register; but he was refused again. Luckily, the club manager Ngo Xuan Quynh persuaded others to give him an opportunity, saying “Like father, like son.”

And Ba Den, together with some other trainees, was sent to the East Asian country to train from mid 1967 till mid 1968 and later for six months in Hungary in 1969.

He was only 1.65 meters tall and weighed just 50 kg; but he was so fast and skillful that he was dubbed the “whirlwind” on The Cong’s left flank.

He was so special that many clubs planned strategies specifically to deal with him or asked their players to learn his ways, marked by abrupt changes in direction and adroit ball control.

Whenever The Cong was mentioned, left winger Ba Den was sure to feature dominantly in the conversation, although there were other big names like Van Khanh, Trong Giap, Van My and Van Theu.

Confidence personified

His speed and skills helped give Ba Den the confidence to play against bigger players from western countries.

“I was small but I was fast and I was not afraid,” Ba Den said. “We had to train a lot. We tied bags of sand or pieces of lead to our legs when we were training, running and jumping.”

“We had more practice in our own time apart from the training sessions. We ran an average 4km every day.” He could cover 3km in less than 10 minutes.

He said he also practiced shooting in new ways, like kicking the ball without looking at it to hit targets.

His physical exercise and strength helped him avoid most tackles from opponents and he didn’t have to stop playing because of injuries.

Also, the hard training helped him play exceptionally till 1984; and he and his teammates played many unforgettable matches.

He was big part of the The Cong team that defeated Cuba 3-2 in 1970 and he was in the national team that drew 2-2 with the same team later.

The Cong also had a successful trip to China in 1974, with eight wins, two draws and a loss.

Ba Den played his final match in 1984 when The Cong encountered the German Democratic Republic Army club. He scored a goal in the final minutes of the match to secure a 3-1 win for his team.

He now lives in Hanoi’s Dong Da District and plays occasionally in veterans’ matches.

“I am old now, so I need to rest and take medicines for gout. But I sometimes participate in a match for veterans for fun,” he said.

Reported by Thanh Luong