In 2012, Vietnamese football fans were surprised and excited when 4 young talents from the HAGL-Arsenal-JMG academy, class 1, were sent to train at a famous club in the English Premier League. The group of 4 players who went to Arsenal at that time were Nguyen Cong Phuong, Luong Xuan Truong, Nguyen Tuan Anh and Tran Huu Dong Trieu. Recently, in a podcast program on his personal YouTube channel, Xuan Truong revealed for the first time about his experience in the foggy country.
"For me, Tuan Anh, Cong Phuong, Dong Trieu, that trip was not like a dream," Xuan Truong shared.
4 HAGL players went to Arsenal for training in 2012.
According to the former HAGL player, his selection to go to Arsenal for training was probably not the decision of coach Arsene Wenger (who was the highest authority at Arsenal at that time). The reason was that the French coach did not appear during the previous friendly match between U17 Arsenal and U17 HAGL as well as the entire training process of the 4 players here.
According to Xuan Truong, the shyness of going abroad for the first time without an adult, the language barrier and physical disadvantages made it difficult for the four young talents of Vietnamese football at that time to go abroad in England.
"During this training trip, we were arranged to stay at a hotel, not at the club's house. When it was time to practice, the club's car would come to pick us up. Every day, the four of us only came to practice around 11am because the weather was very cold at that time, the temperature would be at its highest at noon, then we would have lunch in the team's dining room and the team's car would take us back to the hotel, " Xuan Truong recounted.
"The facilities at Arsenal FC are a dream. The first team and the youth teams practice together in the same area, the first team's training ground is completely enclosed. In addition, they have a field reserved for friendly matches. The youth team's training ground is two grass fields stretching 500m. It can be divided into 10 standard 11-a-side football fields. We were shocked when we saw this image."
Regarding professional matters, Xuan Truong affirmed that he and his teammates are far behind in many aspects compared to the players of the same age at Arsenal's academy. This is very different from the misconception of many people, when the HAGL youth team has won against the U17 and U19 Arsenal teams in friendly matches.
"The results sound great, but to be honest, I don't know if that's Arsenal's official youth team. I only know that they wear Arsenal shirts and play. When Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, and Dong Trieu went to train separately, their level was much higher than ours. In the team I trained with at the same time, there was also right-back Hector Bellerin and the world's best goalkeeper in 2023, Emiliano Martinez," Xuan Truong shared.
The midfielder currently playing for Hai Phong Club said that he and his teammates only met the technical requirements. Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, and Dong Trieu demonstrated good football skills, even better than many Arsenal trainees. However, the physical foundation of the Vietnamese players was far behind. The language barrier also limited their ability to communicate and absorb information during training sessions. During a running exercise, Xuan Truong and his teammates were left behind by the entire Arsenal U19 team by a full lap of the field.
Xuan Truong and Cong Phuong in a friendly match with Arsenal's youth team
"The intensity of the players there is very fast, so we get tired quickly. Besides, we have difficulty communicating. During the 2 weeks of training, I felt like we were practicing for free, without any formality, so I really felt like I didn't belong here. Although I know these are precious moments to learn and experience, when standing on the training ground there, sometimes I just want to hurry up and finish as soon as possible and go home," Xuan Truong admitted.
"I couldn't even get to know anyone. When I got on the field, I was physically and mentally inferior, so that feeling of inferiority lasted for the entire 2 weeks at Arsenal. For us, it could be considered an opportunity, but it was also a huge challenge. Having to face those things was really not easy at all."
Because of the language barrier and the inability to integrate into the environment in England, Xuan Truong and his teammates spent Christmas feeling miserable. Arsenal FC held a party in the team cafeteria. The group of 4 Vietnamese players were too shy to join in and instead went back to the hotel.
"Until now, I still don't remember who the coach was during that training trip. I really don't have many memories. At that time, because of the language barrier, I wasn't as confident as I am now. Many times, I wanted to ask how to do this move, but I couldn't ask.
Even with simple questions, I was very shy to ask at that time. Maybe I could still ask, but I was afraid that when I asked, it would be my turn to answer and I wouldn't understand anything. So if I did something wrong, I just quietly did it again and didn't dare to ask. After that training trip, the coaching staff of Arsenal did not have any specific assessment of the ability of the four brothers," Xuan Truong said about the trip that he admitted that if given more time, he still wouldn't have been able to endure.
The midfielder also admitted that at that time - when he was only 17 years old - he did not believe he could last any longer.
"For me, it's just an experience. It's about being luckier than my friends, not showing that I'm a better player than my peers, " Xuan Truong said.
Han Phong
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