On the sidelines of the Nghe An Newspaper Cup: The 'firsts' in the opening match

The first match of the two uncles and nephews

In the coaching team of Cua Lo Children's Team this year, Nguyen Nghi Phuong is the youngest teacher. This is not the first season of Nghe An Newspaper Cup Phuong has participated but it is the first season Phuong has participated as a coach.

“Youth and Children's Football TournamentNghe An Newspaper CupThe first tournament I participated in was in 2010, when I was a young player. This year, being trusted by the town to lead the team and return to the tournament as a coach, I am really touched and excited. Although the performance of the Cua Lo Children's Team in the first match was not as expected, I highly appreciate the players' fighting spirit, effort, dedication, and solidarity. I will also try my best to help the team achieve the best results," Phuong shared.

That is not the only interesting thing about this young coach. The first goal of the match was scored by player number 8 Le Duy Ngo - also Phuong's nephew. It seems that the sports gene has been completely passed down between generations in the family of the two uncles and nephews. To cheer for these two members, the extended family of coach Phuong and player Ngo were also present at the stadium.

The photographer's first season

Nguyen Dao is known by many people as a talented and dedicated photographer, with many works winning awards in photography competitions. He is also one of the photo collaborators who has been associated with Nghe An Newspaper for many years. However, the 26th Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth - Children's Football Tournament, 2024 is the first season that he has accompanied Nghe An Newspaper as a photojournalist.

When asked about his feelings after the first match of this year's tournament, Mr. Dao shared: "Although I often take sports photos, the feeling when participating in taking photos for the Youth - Children's Football Tournament of Nghe An Newspaper Cup is very different. Indeed, only by participating directly can I see how much work and dedication everyone puts into such a big tournament. This experience will help me gain more experience and teamwork skills. I will try my best to complete the task of conveying the innocence, loveliness and competitive spirit of the young players through the photos."

To undertake the task that Nghe An Newspaper entrusted him with, Mr. Dao carefully checked, prepared, and invested in additional equipment and machinery thoroughly in advance. With the passion and responsibility of a photographer, Mr. Dao struggled to choose each camera angle and did not want to miss any beautiful moments of the young players. With such a new and special "photojournalist", this season will certainly be memorable with many emotional photos.

Special cheering team

In the stands of the match between Cua Lo Children's Team and Nghia Dan Children's Team, because the area is further away, Nghia Dan's fans are much fewer than their opponents. In return, Nghia Dan has a group of young fans wearing beautiful uniforms from Thai Hoa Children's Team. Happy and sad with the ball situations, this group of young fans is so "enthusiastic" that they cling to the railing and refuse to sit down throughout the match.

- You seem to be close to your friends in Thai Hoa town team?

- Yes, we live close to each other and often play football together. This is the first time we have been able to cheer for them in such a big tournament - a quick-witted kid said.

It seems that the enthusiastic cheering of the “neighbors” has given the Nghia Dan children the strength to turn the tide and create a “storm of goals” in the second half of the match. According to information from the young spectators, this year’s Thai Hoa Children’s Team only has 1 athlete who participated in the previous season, the rest are all “new soldiers” - very determined and very energetic.