Cong Phuong used to be a soccer star, now goes abroad to distribute leaflets and sell coffee

After 5 absences, Cong Phuong returned to the registration list when Yokohama FC faced Nagoya in round 3 of the J.League Cup. However, the striker born in 1995 sat on the bench and entered the field in the 41st minute.

Before he could make an impression, Cong Phuong was replaced in the 57th minute to give his position to another teammate.

Accordingly, the striker from Vietnam suffered a calf injury. This is the reason why this striker did not have a good match. Getting injured at this important time is very unfortunate for Cong Phuong. The injury also caused the former No. 1 striker of the Vietnamese team to not be on coach Kim Sang-sik's list in the last two matches in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.

Recently, Japan's Yokohama Club updated Cong Phuong's new information, but it was not related to football expertise.

Specifically, Yokohama FC's official social networking site posted a separate video about Cong Phuong - as a coffee barista. This is said to be an image promotion activity for a coffee product line in collaboration with this striker.

In contrast to the past of 2016, football fans were also disappointed when Cong Phuong played for Mito Hollyhock Club in J.League 2 but distributed leaflets on the street wearing team uniforms.

It is very normal for players to go abroad to be "image ambassadors", and there is no right or wrong. It's just that fans feel sad when a once-star star is absent from the field?

But looking at it positively, this can be seen as a new step called "economic direction", finding something new in Cong Phuong's difficulties. As mentioned, Cong Phuong has cooperated with Yokohama FC to open a distribution chain of household products including: water cups, aprons, storage bins, and coffee cup liners. All products are printed with lotus flowers.

It is known that at Yokohama FC currently, Cong Phuong's salary is 5 billion VND/season. This number is still low, because Yokohama's key players receive between 5-10 billion VND/year. In fact, at the age of 27-28, Cong Phuong is not too concerned about income from soccer. Because previously, Cong Phuong's salary as a player alone helped Nghe An players have a full life.

Previously, when he started going abroad to play for Mito Hollyhock, Cong Phuong received a salary of 3,000 USD/month (67 million VND). In his second trip abroad, playing for Incheon United of Korea, Cong Phuong received about 10,000 USD/month (about 230 million VND at that time).

Afterwards, while still competing in Belgium, Cong Phuong was said to earn about 20,000 euros/month (nearly 500 million VND/month). When loaned by Ho Chi Minh City, many sources said that this player received about 120 million VND/month. Cong Phuong's salary at HAGL was not disclosed, but it could be 40 million VND/month.

Also thanks to being one of the most notable players in Vietnam over the past 10 years, Cong Phuong has a large source of income from playing an advertising role for famous brands, from airlines, shampoos, watches, mineral water, fashion...

Not only football, Cong Phuong is also good at business. He owns a fashion brand specializing in youthful, dynamic T-shirt designs. The Nghe An player also shared capital with former teammate Tran Huu Dong Trieu to open a pork rice paper shop. In July 2019, he founded a company called PM Sports Marketing Trading Company Limited, specializing in advertising and sports activities.

Cong Phuong's passion outside of football is coffee. Since 2017, Phuong has gradually "encroached" the coffee chain business, with shop CP10 in Gia Lai. A year later, he opened a second branch in Hanoi (currently all shares of this shop have been sold). After that, he participated in the Ong Bau coffee shop business, franchising from Bau Duc's brand chain.

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