Nghe An Youth Football: A miracle that is hard to repeat
(Baonghean.vn) - Up to this point, all SLNA youth teams have competed in the qualifying rounds or national youth finals. However, this year, the performance of SLNA youth teams is predicted to decline in a difficult and fierce season.
2018 was a year of great victory for Nghe An youth football with 3 championships of U11 SLNA, U13 SLNA and U15 SLNA. U17 SLNA won the runner-up position, U19 SLNA won the bronze medal and U21 SLNA won a ticket to the final round, SLNA became the only team of V.League to participate in all the national youth tournament finals.
In the 3 championships of SLNA youth team, 2 final matches had to be decided by nerve-wracking penalty shootouts. That shows that the gap between the opponents and SLNA is no longer that big.
This year, SLNA continues to participate in all tournaments from U11 to U21. In particular, in the qualifying round of the National Youth-Number Football Tournament, Nghe An has 4 participating teams: U11 SLNA, U13 SLNA and two teams of SLF Thanh Vinh, which is SLNA's B team.
After a 6-1 victory in the opening match against Phu Dong, U11 SLNA had a 5-0 victory over Quang Nam and held Hung Yen to a goalless draw in the final match, thereby winning a ticket to the final round in Dak Lak in July as group winners.
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SLNA U17 team disappointed when they failed to pass the qualifying round. Photo: Huu Thanh |
U13 SLNA also had a smooth start in the qualifying round when they won 1-0 against U13 Hai Duong. In the second match, coach Le Van Hung and his team easily defeated Hai Phong with a score of 3-0. In the final match, U13 SLNA and U13 Da Nang drew 1-1. With 7 points after 3 unbeaten matches, U13 SLNA officially won a ticket to the final round which will take place from July 5 to July 15 at home.
Up to this point, the team with the most expectations is U15 SLNA, led by Coach Phan Nhu Thuat and Coach Pham Van Quyen. After an extremely impressive performance in the qualifying round, U15 SLNA fell into a rather fierce group in the final round with host Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Hoa and HAGL.
However, with careful preparation for the tournament and a good group of players, U15 SLNA defeated Thanh Hoa 2-1 on the opening day and continued to have a 4-1 victory over Ho Chi Minh City in the second match. Before meeting HAGL in the final match of the group stage, U15 SLNA had 6 points and was leading Group A. The semi-final of the U15 National Championship was very close for coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team.
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| U15 SLNA is making an impression at the 2019 National U15 Finals taking place in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tu Nguyen |
While the juniors are showing their strength, U17 SLNA is the disappointing team. In the qualifying round, U17 SLNA was in the same group with Thanh Hoa, SHB Da Nang, Nam Dinh and the host Thua Thien Hue. After 7 matches, U17 SLNA won 2, drew 3 and lost 2, earning 9 points and ranked second to last, officially missing the final round and becoming the former runner-up of the tournament.
At the U19 level, SLNA still has a good generation of players with a series of faces that were called up to the Vietnam U17 and Vietnam U19 teams. However, after playing well in the group stage, U19 SLNA missed the final match because they lost 0-2 to U19 HAGL in the semi-finals last March. Unable to change the color of the medal, at least U19 SLNA is still the only team with positive results among SLNA's youth teams.
Because in the U21 National qualifying round in the opening match, coach Nguyen Dinh Dung and his team also had to leave empty-handed with a 0-1 defeat against U21 Cong An Nhan Dan. Recently, U21 SLNA continued to receive a heavy 0-5 defeat against Pho Hien and almost lost the chance to win 1 of the 2 official tickets of group A to attend the final round.
The quality of SLNA's U11, U13 and U15 players is still guaranteed, but the lack of momentum when participating in tournaments at the U17, U19 and U21 levels and above is posing problems for SLNA's youth training center. The quality of SLNA's young players is not too bad, but the higher they go, the harder it is to show themselves.
Recently, U18 Vietnam has summoned 6 faces from SLNA, namely Nguyen Van Ba, Tran Quoc Thanh, Tran Manh Quynh, Nguyen Xuan Binh, Dang Quang Tu, Ho Khac Luong to participate in the U18 Southeast Asia Tournament. However, the U17, U19, and U21 teams seem to have very little hope.
Winning the second consecutive match, U15 SLNA has a wide open door to the semi-finals
(Baonghean.vn) – In the first match of the National U15 Finals, U15 SLNA won 2-1 against Thanh Hoa. In the second match, coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team continued to have a good match against U15 Ho Chi Minh City.
