From a promising talent
In 2019, Nguyen Trong Hung debuted on the professional playing field in the Thanh Hoa club shirt . This 1m72 tall midfielder quickly won the trust of the coaching staff, despite the fact that it was a season in which the Thanh team changed 3 head coaches, from Mr. Nguyen Duc Thang, Vu Quang Bao to Mai Xuan Hop.
24 appearances in V.League 2019, including 16 starting matches and 3 goals, are proof of Trong Hung's smooth start to his career. From that promising performance, the player born in 1997 was called up by coach Park Hang-seo for training sessions with U22 Vietnam as well as the opportunity to join the Vietnam national team.
Trong Hung himself is also expected by experts and the media to become the next interesting discovery after the case of Phan Van Duc in 2018. Because both have similarities from appearance to agile playing style, like to hold the ball to break through and create surprises.
Based on his stable performance and potential in playing style, Trong Hung continued to be named by Mr. Park in the list of U22 Vietnam to participate in the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines. Right in the first match given the opportunity, the player born in 1997 scored in the home team's 6-0 victory over U19 Brunei.
At this Congress, U22 Vietnam won a historic gold medal after decades of waiting. Trong Hung also ended 2019 successfully with a glorious title with the "Golden Star Warriors".
But…
From a perspective, Trong Hung experienced disappointments. In the following two consecutive seasons of 2020 and 2021, this player only played exactly 4 matches for Thanh Hoa in the V.League.
Coach Nguyen Thanh Cong - who led Thanh Hoa in the 2020 season - admitted that Trong Hung's physical condition was not really good. The recovery process for the player born in 1997 was also slower than expected.
Even when he returned and trained very well, bad luck still followed Trong Hung, so he continued to sit on the sidelines watching his teammates compete for most of the two seasons mentioned above.
Coming to V.League 2022 and V.League 2023, Trong Hung started to stabilize more. His knees and thigh muscles were also "obedient" so that this player could play 39 matches in V.League, 6 matches in National Cup and 1 time in National Super Cup.
However, the attacking midfielder's contributions in terms of goals for Thanh Hoa were very modest and did not meet the expectations of fans. He only scored 3 goals and had 2 assists.
During the 4 years since the successful SEA Games 2019, Trong Hung has not been called up to the Vietnam national team. This is in contrast to what players of the same generation as Trong Hung such as Van Hau, Quang Hai, Duc Chinh, Tien Linh, Hoang Duc... have achieved in the same period, from shining in the domestic tournament, being promoted to the national team to sponsorship and advertising contracts.
Most recently, in the 2023-2024 V.League season, Trong Hung only played 11 matches. He did not have any more goals or assists for the Thanh team. In addition, the 27-year-old midfielder also suffered minor injuries that made his performance not smooth.
Currently, the question mark about Nguyen Trong Hung's future at Thanh Hoa club is also unclear. Because, in the 4-midfielder diamond formation of coach Velizar Popov, factors such as Doan Ngoc Tan or A Mit are the top priority choices.
