Quang Hai plays in a football match
The midfielder signed up for Nimes Club, which is contrary to previous rumors that he would play for an Austrian club, Germany, or Nantes club in Ligue 1, the French national football championship.
According to Quang Hai's representative, he decided to choose a club that is participating in Ligue 2 because this player thought this club will fit in better, and he simultaneously considered it as the first step to his dream of wearing a shirt for a club in the Ligue 1 tournament in the near future.
Nimes club played in Ligue 1 in the 2020-2021 season before being relegated. In the 2021-2022 season, this team ranks 9th out of 20 teams in Ligue 2 with 49 points after 38 matches, so it has not been able to return to the top league in France. Nimes' goal is to compete for promotion next season.
Currently, Quang Hai has returned home to prepare necessary documents before returning to France at the end of June 2022. In the new team, Quang Hai wears the number 19 shirt, the number that has helped this player confirm his name with the Hanoi club and the U23 team as well as the Vietnamese national team.
The Ligue 2 tournament will take place from July 30, 2022, to June 3, 2023. Quang Hai only has one month to prepare with the new club before entering the competition as scheduled. Because 18 teams take part in the Ligue 1 from the 2023-2024 season so the club has two promotion slots, instead of 3 as before for the Ligue 2 in the next season. Therefore, Nimes Club must reach the top 2 final in the 2022-2023 season to win the right to play in France's top playground.
Quang Hai wins the Vietnam Golden Ball in 2018
Prior, many Vietnamese players had signed up for football clubs abroad namely Nguyen Cong Phuong with Sint-Truidense (Belgium) and Doan Van Hau to SC Heerenveen (Netherlands); however, both were unsuccessful in playing for foreign clubs.
The two players’ failure in Europe will be an experience for Quang Hai this time. Quang Hai decided to join a club that is playing in Ligue 2 as he thought it will fit him because if he wears a shirt for a club that is playing in Ligue 1, Quang Hai will face endless competition with the tense nature of the French professional league.
According to statistics until April 2022, the Nimes club owner has signed contracts with players from Africa, Japan, and Norway. Therefore, the Vietnamese midfielder will face difficulties in Nimes' main stone position.
The midfielder won three top-tier V-League 1 championships in 2016, 2018, and 2019, two National Cup trophies in 2019 and 2020, and three titles of the Vietnam Super Cup in 2019, 2020, and 2021 with Hanoi FC. He also won the Vietnam Golden Ball in 2018 and was honored as the Best Player in Southeast Asia in 2019.
