Dr. Phan Ngoc Son and his family were present at Ton Duc Thang University's stadium at the final round of the THACO Cup 2025 Youth Student Competition.
Vietnamese students are proud of their international friends
Dr. Phan Ngoc Son is extremely passionate about sports in general and football in particular. He regularly attends international tournaments to cheer and learn about infrastructure planning and professional organization methods to apply to Vietnamese student football.
That passion of Dr. Phan Ngoc Son has come into real action when Dong Nai University of Technology (DNTU) has represented Vietnamese students three times to participate in the Asian University Football Championship (AUFF). In the first time participating in the Vietnam Youth Student Football Championship - THACO Cup in 2024, the DNTU team has truly become a phenomenon, playing very bravely and winning the bronze medal in the end.
Dr. Phan Ngoc Son shared with Thanh Nien Newspaper: "DNTU has nurtured this football team for more than a year to prepare for the THACO Cup TNSV football tournament with the slogan "Intellectuals play football": the students both play football and fulfill their duties in the classroom. At the same time, DNTU also boldly pioneered the mechanism to attract football talents.
There are many paths to glory, to reach out to the world, not just scientific research. When I go out, I see that there are many things we should do and can do. Sports is one of those directions, when Vietnamese students are at a disadvantage compared to their international friends.
Dong Nai University of Technology fans in the stands of Ton Duc Thang University
I think when we go out into the world, we should not be self-conscious but confident. Next, adults should create conditions for young people and students to find success on their own path. If we create conditions and satisfy the requirements, Vietnam can absolutely succeed.
A big concern is the story of physical strength and physique. Our strength is weak, our students are weak, most Vietnamese people are physically weak. Therefore, we must invest more in sports to improve it, we cannot blame the problem or find excuses forever.
I was very pleased to attend and follow the TNSV THACO cup 2025, with an almost professional organization, meeting the great needs of the student community nationwide, in 266 universities nationwide. From the first tournament to the second tournament and now the third season, I see a completely different situation.
I think this is the right signal for Thanh Nien Newspaper to raise the level of the tournament even higher with the 2025 International Youth Student Football Tournament - THACO Cup for the students to compete. Within my ability, if necessary, I will do everything I can to bring good teams to join me, raise the level and create a ripple effect."
Bringing the Asian Student Awards (AUFF) to Vietnam
Dong Nai University of Technology players attend the final round of the TNSV THACo cup for the second consecutive time
On January 30, 2020, Dr. Phan Ngoc Son was appointed Vice President of the Asian University Football Federation (AUFF) in Korea with the hope of developing the football movement for students of the school and the continent. Notably, this year DNTU successfully won the right to host the 10th Asian University Football Championship, in a race with leading candidates Oman and the Philippines.
He shared: "I told the AUFF president that 2025 is a special year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and the reunification of Vietnam, and also the 20th anniversary of the founding of DNTU. The third reason is that everyone knows that Vietnam is passionate about football, and our students want to reach the top, so please give it to us. I also told the Oman representative the same thing and they happily agreed to let the tournament be held in Vietnam next May."
With the experience of participating in AUFF 3 times, Dr. Phan Ngoc Son affirmed that Vietnamese students will not be inferior to anyone if they are properly invested: "The reason I came to AUFF was that when I went abroad, I saw that the physical strength of international students was very good, and all schools had football teams. Vietnam's only advantage is the large number of students, very passionate about football, but the physical strength and facilities are still weak.
Dr. Phan Ngoc Son welcomed the AUFF leadership delegation visiting DNTU in 2019
A big motivation for me is when I let the students go out to compete, seeing the pride in their eyes when they salute the flag, I tell myself that no matter how much it costs, I have to do it. Standing with Asian countries like Korea, Japan, Oman, Thailand… even though Vietnamese students may still be at a disadvantage in terms of physical strength, they are all very determined to compete with their Asian brothers.
Therefore, I decided to invest fundamentally in sports in general and football in particular, creating a playground for them to see that Vietnamese students are not inferior to anyone. Vietnamese students coming from a university in Vietnam still have the right to be equal to all friends from other universities."
DNTU: Investing 6 hectares to build a modern sports complex in Long Thanh
According to Dr. Phan Ngoc Son, DNTU has decided to invest heavily in the strategy of building a football ecosystem and specialized football training. He expressed: "Students get many things: satisfy their passion, improve their strength, still complete their training and graduate from university. If any student continues to be passionate, we will upgrade them to professional level. DNTU is standardizing the field, has completed an 11-player artificial turf field for students to practice football as a daily extracurricular sport in the school.
Currently, DNTU is negotiating with the People's Committee of Dong Nai province to lease 20 hectares of land in Long Thanh for 50 years. Of which, DNTU will reserve 6 hectares to create a sports complex, with all standard fields for football, swimming, athletics, tennis, badminton, etc. in a complete and synchronous sports complex.
I believe that if foreign schools can do it, Vietnam can do it too. If DNTU invests in good facilities, businesses will sponsor a lot because they really need DNTU's products, and they will be able to do many things. Therefore, we determined that we must do it, should do it, and must meet the standards."
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ts-phan-ngoc-son-dau-tu-bong-da-de-nang-cao-the-chat-sinh-vien-viet-nam-185250305181010278.htm
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