Van Thi Thanh is one of the famous names in Vietnamese women's football. The former player born in 1985 was selected for the Vietnamese women's team when she was only 17 years old.
The former striker from Ha Nam province made her biggest mark in 2003 when she scored the decisive goal that helped the Vietnamese women's team win the gold medal at the 22nd SEA Games on home soil. That same year, Van Thi Thanh was awarded the Vietnam Golden Ball award.
During her career, she also received the Vietnam Silver Ball award in 2005; and was one of the 10 outstanding athletes of Vietnamese sports in 2003 and 2005.
Despite being dubbed the "Pham Van Quyen of women's football", Van Thi Thanh's career only lasted about 10 years. She retired from the national team in 2009 and retired in 2011.
After that, the former player born in 1985 pursued a coaching career. She is currently leading the Thai Nguyen T&T women's team. Van Thi Thanh is also the only female coach in Vietnam to have an AFC Pro certificate (AFC's highest certificate for professional coaches qualified to lead national teams).
Besides her career, Van Thi Thanh also received much attention for her personal life. After hanging up her shoes, she married her university friend. However, the marriage did not go as planned, causing the couple to break up after 6 years of living together.
Talking to Lao Dong, this former player confided that football brought her many things such as achievements, reputation... but also affected her private life.
"If I say I have lived a life of football in pink, then my love life and marriage have not been like that. I have failed in marriage. That was a lesson and an experience that was not as expected. My destiny came but later changed.
At that time, my ex-husband and I worked 2 jobs in 2 places, so it was just me and my son living together. If the family lived together, it would be easier to share anger and resentment. But at that time, each person was in a different place, and both of our jobs were very stressful.
I also consoled myself, but as time passed, things got worse. We got angry and argued more. I think the reason for the broken marriage was partly because I didn't have time for my family," former player Van Thi Thanh shared.
However, the head coach of the Thai Nguyen T&T women's team affirmed that when she has chosen her passion, there must be someone by her side who truly understands, shares, and supports her. If that person does not share in the matter of children, it will be only a matter of time before she has to choose between family and work.
The former player expressed: "I am very grateful to my ex-husband for supporting me a lot during that time, but perhaps our fate has ended. My child is now in 7th grade, is emotional and knows how to share with his mother.
When it was just me and my child taking care of each other, my child encouraged me to wake up early to go to work so that we could buy a house for us to live together. Those are memories I cherish and motivate me to continue living and working."
