New England Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen made mark in Vietnam

FOXBOROUGH – New England Revolution fans voted midfielder Lee Nguyen the team’s MVP in 2012.But that accolade paled in comparison with the adulation he received when he played 1½ seasons in the Vietnamese Super League.

Nguyen hadn’t even completed the 2009 season with Hoang Anh Gia Lai when Dan Ong magazine, Vietnam’s equivalent of GQ, published a cover story on him.At season’s end, the fans voted Nguyen the second-best player in the country in a league poll.

How do you spell superstar?“The reception I got when I came over there was overwhelming,” Nguyen said during a break from a recent practice. “I didn’t expect that. Coming over to play in Europe already was a big thing because soccer’s big there, so you’re well-recognized in Holland and Denmark.

“But it wasn’t to the extent that it was in Vietnam. I stepped off a plane and everybody knew who I was.”Nguyen was born in Richardson, Texas, to Michelle and Pham Nguyen and eventually obtained Vietnamese as well as American citizenship. But initially he wasn’t fluent in the language of his parents.“I could understand a little bit of it because my parents spoke it in the house,” he said. “I always understood…

via New England Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen made mark in Vietnam | masslive.com.