It's been 3 years since I celebrated Tet at home.
Until the day Huynh Nhu and the Vietnamese women's team went to India to attend the 2022 Asian Cup on the occasion of the New Year, until she chose to go to Portugal to develop her career, the girl from Tra Vinh could not believe that she had 3 consecutive springs without being able to celebrate Tet in her homeland.
Huynh Nhu is the best striker of the Vietnamese women's team.
"You have to go far away to long for the day you return," Huynh Nhu recalls. In 2022 in India, the captain of the Vietnamese women's team welcomed New Year's Eve with his teammates with a cozy meal. That day, many players had just recovered from Covid-19, just in time to enter the tournament. Celebrating Tet away from home, but the whole team was only excited, not sad. Because the Vietnamese women's team was burning with the fire of competing for a ticket to the 2023 World Cup. In the hustle and bustle of training and competition combined with the anxious days of... taking test samples, coach Mai Duc Chung and his students held hands tightly to together create a brilliant history for the country's football. That Tet for Nhu, although far from family and parents, was still filled with the love of teachers, students, and colleagues. That Tet was so happy, so special!
Parents and Huynh Nhu go out for spring fun
Photo: FBNV
Huynh Nhu and mother
Then Huynh Nhu had another experience celebrating Tet in Portugal. This time, not playing away from home with the Vietnamese team, but very different. For two years wearing the Lank FC jersey, Tet in a foreign land for Nhu was not as bustling as in her homeland, not on a "seesaw of emotions" like the Asian Cup in India. The 34-year-old striker was busy playing with Lank FC, perhaps that was why Nhu was able to somewhat ease her homesickness.
Everything broke out when the girl from Tra Vinh received a call from her parents: "Every year I was with my parents, but at that time I could only see the whole family through the phone screen. While calling, my mother filmed the house decoration for Nhu to watch so she wouldn't miss them. My parents told me to stay healthy, to compete with peace of mind, and to be steadfast in a faraway place. I was filled with tears, wishing for nothing more than to be at home at that time, enjoying the early spring sunshine, instead of the "skin-chilling" cold, in a space... full of snow, snow in Portugal".
During those days away from home, Huynh Nhu was welcomed with love from Portuguese expatriates. As Nhu recalls, Tet at Lank FC was very simple: going to the market to buy flowers to decorate the atmosphere, calling her family, treating herself to a delicious meal, then putting on her shoes to go to the stadium to… relieve her homesickness. Then, early last spring, Nhu received an invitation from an acquaintance to celebrate the New Year in Porto on the first day of Tet. Without hesitation, she bought a train ticket, went there to celebrate Tet and returned the same day.
Huynh Nhu (second from left) and the joy of victory with teammates at Lank FC
Huynh Nhu's days at Lank FC were associated with the word "alone". Playing alone, taking care of herself alone. Once, she sprained her ankle, but the club doctor was out of work, so Nhu applied ice and medicine at home.
There are not many Vietnamese people in Portugal, but they always appear whenever Huynh Nhu needs them. Some people give food, gifts, some invite people to their homes for a cozy meal, some encourage them. She said: "When you go far away, you see how much our people love and care for each other. Vietnamese people care for each other sincerely, sometimes giving each other ham, sesame salt, rice balls, fish and shrimp, but everything is so sincere, it makes my heart flutter". All of these have become priceless memories that the striker born in 1991 always carries with her on her journey in life.
Cultural Ambassador
Huynh Nhu has contributed to changing Vietnamese women's football, and of course football has also changed the life of the player considered the most excellent in the history of Vietnamese women's football. From the time she was a little girl who went to the market with her father to play football with the boys, kicking the leather ball her father gave her until her feet were sore, to walking on the velvety grass at the World Cup stage, and then becoming the first Vietnamese female player to compete in Europe, Nhu has gone through a very long journey, and sometimes "when I close my eyes, I still think this is a dream, a beautiful dream".
Huynh Nhu shared that she is always proud of being a "Vietnamese with brown skin, black eyes, fragrant and indomitable like a lotus branch" as in the song One Round Vietnam. On the wonderfully beautiful football journey that Nhu wrote with sweat and tears, this girl also plays the role of "ambassador" of Vietnamese culture.
In the photo album on Huynh Nhu's phone, there are still intact pictures of her teammates at Lank FC, whom Nhu always considers as her younger siblings. Those pictures are even more special, because the Lank players, whether from Portugal or the US, are all delighted with the ao dai and conical hats that "ambassador" Huynh Nhu brought.
Huynh Nhu wears conical hat and checkered scarf, typical of Vietnam, abroad
"Nhu's teammates really like wearing ao dai. They borrowed my shirts to bring over, tried them on a few times, and then… asked for them. The players at Lank are crazy about ao dai and conical hats. Whenever Nhu returns to Vietnam on vacation and comes back to the club, they ask "big sister" if she brought gifts from Vietnam. I tell my teammates about my beautiful homeland Vietnam with its rich green and yellow colors on the fields, about the dishes with "extremely delicious" flavors that you will never forget after eating them once, about the beautiful land with rivers, mountains, seas, and lakes, with generous, loving people who live full of emotions. Wherever I go or whom I meet, as long as someone asks about Vietnam, I am ready to tell them everything, then "entice" them to come to Vietnam if they have free time, I will be an amateur tour guide, showing them the most beautiful places in my homeland," Nhu said.
Huynh Nhu's biggest regret is probably not being able to bring her teammates from Lank to Vietnam for a trip.
"Nhu just wants more international friends to know about her homeland and reminds herself to never stop working hard for the country's flag and colors, to contribute to her homeland in one way or another," Nhu confided.
NEW YEAR'S WISH
After 2 years of adventure in Lank with special memories, Huynh Nhu has returned home. The owner of 5 Vietnamese Women's Golden Balls has signed a contract with the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Team, the place that has given wings to her football dream and brought the 34-year-old striker to the peak of her career. Nhu's wish is to contribute to bringing the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football team to the big sea of Asia, with a place in the AFC Champions League Women's Team. Thanks to Nhu's goals, the whole team has reached the quarter-finals and will continue to dream of miracles next March.
Huynh Nhu in the loving arms of her family
A moment of silence appeared in my conversation with Huynh Nhu, with the question of whether Nhu still wanted to go abroad. The girl from Tra Vinh can fluently tell stories about the country, about football, about past stories without thinking. However, when faced with the choice of whether to go abroad in 2025 or not, Nhu's eyes were filled with worries and hesitation. At the age of 34, the best striker in the history of the Vietnamese women's team is no longer young. Should she continue to learn, or stay and prepare for the next step after retiring? Nhu will find the answer to that question with the knot in 2025.
In the new year, Huynh Nhu plans to play soccer and study for a master's degree in physical education at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. She also plans to study for a coaching degree, so she can pursue a coaching career. Becoming a physical education teacher, a head coach, or any other profession, Nhu has only one goal in mind: to do her job well.
However, that is a story of the future. This Tet, the dutiful daughter of father Huynh Thanh Liem and mother Le Thi Lai is ready to go into the kitchen to cook and clean, so that the small kitchen in the beloved house is filled with laughter again. "I miss home and Tet so much, I can't wait any longer", Huynh Nhu said, adding a smile to her lips. Whenever she mentioned her family, her eyes lit up.
The wishes of the "golden girl"
When asked what she wished for in the new year, Huynh Nhu made her first wish for her family: "I hope my grandparents, father Liem, mother Lai and all family members stay healthy. At this age, nothing is more precious than health."
Huynh Nhu's second wish for football: hoping that the Ho Chi Minh City women's team will create a miracle in the AFC Champions League for women, hoping that the Vietnamese women's team will maintain its position in Southeast Asia, be successful at the 33rd SEA Games and get a ticket to the 2026 Asian Cup. Finally, Nhu thought about herself.
"At the end of my career, I hope I can eat scientifically and have the health to practice and compete well. I hope I will always try my best and never back down in the face of difficulties. I hope 2025 will be peaceful for everyone," Nhu said softly.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/huynh-nhu-que-huong-la-chum-khe-ngot-185250103150312411.htm
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