50 Years of Saigon - Gia Dinh City Bearing President Ho Chi Minh's Name: Coach Doan Minh Xuong and the Aspiration to Restore the City's Football to Its Leading Position

On the occasion of the anniversary50 years of Ho Chi Minh City bearing Uncle Ho's name, his story is not only the journey of a coach but also the journey of a person who has dedicated his whole life to building the future of the city's football.

"To develop football sustainably, we must first change our mindset"

That is what Mr. Doan Minh Xuong emphasized when looking back at the development path of football inHo Chi Minh City. According to him, football is not just a win-loss competition, but must be seen as a tool contributing to human and social development.

The greatest value of football is creating opportunities for many children to train, mature, and develop comprehensively.

Few people know that before becoming one of the experienced football experts, he went through challenging years. In 1982, after graduating from university, he was assigned to work in Dong Thap during the subsidy period.

Although initially reluctant to leave Ho Chi Minh City, he accepted the task, learning and researching on his own to gain experience. Together with his colleagues, he contributed to building Dong Thap football into one of the country's strong centers with two national championships.

In 2003, he returned to Ho Chi Minh City to teach at the University of Sports and Physical Education. Upon retiring, instead of stopping, he continued to devote his passion to football in a different direction: building the Ho Chi Minh City School Football Project. The project was approved at the 2012 Ho Chi Minh City Football Congress and officially implemented from the 2013-2014 school year.

Continuing to build the foundation so that the next generation can go further

According to him, to have good players, we must first create an environment where children love football. In the early days of implementation, only about 100 schools participated. To develop the movement, the team had to survey each school on land area, facilities, teaching staff, and organize training sessions, support equipment, and build football festivals for students.

After more than a decade, the program has expanded to nearly 300 schools, becoming one of the largest school football models in the country. For Mr. Xuong, the success lies not in the number of participating schools but in the increasing number of children gaining access to football in an educational environment.

He believes that children in Ho Chi Minh City have the outstanding advantage of intelligence, so training must be based on that characteristic to build suitable lesson plans, promoting creativity and adaptability, rather than applying a rigid template.

Not only concerned with school football, he also devotes much passion to the future of Ho Chi Minh City football.

According to him, the current situation shows that the city's youth training system has not yet created an attraction and lacks a clear development roadmap. Training centers still operate independently, lacking connection with each other and with professional clubs, causing many young players to have no suitable output or to move to other localities to develop their careers.

To overcome this, he believes thatHo Chi Minh Cityneeds to identify its role as the football center of the entire southern region, while building a close coordination mechanism between the sports sector, training centers, and professional clubs. According to him, if all units aim for a common goal, the final output will be a representative team capable of competing in the national arena.

One of the things he always mentions is identity. He shares: "In my opinion, Ho Chi Minh City needs to build its own football philosophy, suitable for its people. When looking at the playing style, fans must be able to immediately recognize that it is the team ofHo Chi Minh City. To achieve that requires persistence, accepting even the immediate difficulties to aim for a sustainably developed football with its own brand."

Those who have studied with him all clearly feel that dedication. Student Nguyen Van Nguyen shared that what impressed him most was not only the professional knowledge but also the teacher's enthusiasm.

"The teacher always arrives about 30 minutes before class, from theoretical lessons to outdoor practical sessions in hot conditions. What I learned the most is the philosophy of putting children at the center and how he always conveys wholeheartedly so that students can easily understand and apply," Nguyen said.

Perhaps that persistence has helped Mr. Doan Minh Xuong maintain his love for football through many roles: from a professional, lecturer to a creator of community football programs.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh City bearing Uncle Ho's name, his story not only recalls a personal journey of dedication but also reflects the development path of the city's sports.

If previous generations contributed to creating the position of Ho Chi Minh City football, then people like Doan Minh Xuong are still quietly building the foundation for the next generation to go further.

For him, the greatest success lies not only in victories on the pitch but also in every child having the opportunity to approach the ball, nurture their passion, and grow with the values that sports bring. That is also his way of contributing to writing the next chapter of Ho Chi Minh City football on its new development journey.