Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc, also known by the nickname Bau Duc, is one of the bosses who left a clear mark in the development of Vietnamese professional football. More than 20 years of attachment to this sport, he not only made Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) a force in the V.League but also invested heavily in youth training and played a notable role in bringing coach (HLV) Park Hang-seo to Vietnam.
Making HAGL a power of Vietnamese football
In 2001, Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc took over the Gia Lai team and renamed it Hoang Anh Gia Lai. In the early years, Bau Duc created a difference by strongly investing in the team, recruiting many quality players and especially attracting attention when bringing Thai striker Kiatisuk Senamuang to Vietnam.
HAGL quickly rose to the V.League and created a turning point when they won the championship right in the first season participating in the highest playground. The Mountain Town team continued to successfully defend the championship in 2004. This is a special achievement when HAGL became the first team in V.League history to win the championship in the first season after being promoted and then win the championship for two consecutive years.
During this period, HAGL owned many famous players of Vietnamese football along with a squad of Thai foreign players, creating a squad called "Dream Team" by fans. Bau Duc's investment method contributed to increasing competitiveness in the V.League, while creating a private club model with ambition and great financial potential.
However, Bau Duc's longer-term mark is not in HAGL's titles but in the decision to shift to training young players.
HAGL Academy and the generation of players for the national team
In 2007, the HAGL Arsenal JMG Football Academy was established in Ham Rong, Gia Lai. This was one of the largest and most methodical private youth training projects of Vietnamese football at that time. Bau Duc chose to cooperate with Arsenal and JMG, aiming for a comprehensive player training model in both expertise and culture.
The difference of this model lies in the fact that HAGL not only invests in the first team to seek titles but also dedicates resources to a multi-year training cycle. The first generation of players of the academy then became familiar faces of Vietnamese football such as Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong, Van Toan, Van Thanh, Hong Duy and many other players.
These players were once the core of U19 Vietnam, U23 Vietnam and the national team. In particular, at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, the group of players who grew up from HAGL played an important role in the journey to win the runner-up title of U23 Vietnam. After that, many players continued to participate in the national team in major tournaments.
Bau Duc's contribution here should not be viewed in the direction of HAGL alone creating the success of Vietnamese football. The achievements of the national teams are the result of many factors, including the training of many centers, clubs, VFF and coaching staff. However, HAGL's pioneering investment in a relatively professional youth football academy has created a certain impact on the trend of socialization and youth training afterwards.
Not only training players, HAGL also creates conditions for some young talents to go abroad to play. Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong used to play or train in Japan and Korea, thereby opening up more access to the professional football environment for Vietnamese players.
Impression with the Park Hang-seo deal
One of the most mentioned contributions of Bau Duc to the Vietnamese national team is his role in bringing coach Park Hang-seo to Vietnam in 2017.
At that time, Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc held the position of Vice President in charge of finance of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF). He and VFF leaders went to Korea to negotiate with coach Park Hang-seo and then the Korean strategist signed a contract to lead the Vietnamese national team in October 2017.
A noteworthy point is that HAGL and Bau Duc also sponsored the entire salary of coach Park in the first contract. According to published information, the amount of money HAGL transferred to VFF is about 800 million VND per month, equivalent to about 19.2 billion VND in two years. This support includes salary and personal income tax of coach Park Hang-seo.
After receiving the assignment, coach Park Hang-seo quickly created important milestones for Vietnamese football. U23 Vietnam won the runner-up title at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, Vietnam Olympic team reached the semi-finals of ASIAD 2018, before the national team won the AFF Cup at the end of that year. Coach Park's success is the result of many factors, from player quality, coaching work to the preparation of Vietnamese football, but Bau Duc's participation in the selection process and financial support for the first contract is a noteworthy mark.
By 2026, Bau Duc will continue to maintain interest in youth football when organizing the Gia Lai U14 International Festival, gathering domestic and international youth teams. He believes that young players need to play regularly to develop, and considers this as an investment for the future of Vietnamese football.
Looking back more than two decades, Bau Duc's mark can be seen in three main aspects: building HAGL into a V.League power, pioneering strong investment in youth training and contributing to the process of bringing coach Park Hang-seo to Vietnam. In which, creating a youth training system capable of providing players for national teams is considered the most long-term valuable contribution.
