Song Lam Nghe An steel in the continental youth playground

The final round of the 2023 AFC U20 Championship (U20 ASIAN CUP-Uzbekistan 2023) began with the anticipation and expectation of many fans across the continent, because this is the generation of potential players to aim for the 2026 World Cup or the expanded 2030 World Cup, creating great opportunities for developing football.

With U20 Vietnam, this further demonstrates the goal of helping Vietnamese football reach a higher level than ever before, continuing the U20 generation participating in continental and world tournaments of Quang Hai and Hoang Duc, contributing greatly to the success of U23 Vietnam and the Vietnam National Team in recent times.

SLNA players in the opening match of U20 Vietnam. Photo courtesy of VFF.

If in the previous U20 generation, it was a pity that the Song Lam Nghe An furnace did not contribute any outstanding stars, even though there were names like Van Duc and Xuan Manh, then it is really good news that the current U20 generation participating in the continental youth tournament has 5 bright names including: Van Binh, Nguyen Hoang, Van Cuong, Nam Hai and Xuan Tien.

In the first match against the extremely strong opponent U20 Australia, Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan arranged a defensive - counter-attacking formation, similar to the familiar formation under Mr. Park Hang-seo but with important and notable variations compared to the way the Korean coach and Mr. Dinh The Nam used their players when playing in the regional qualifiers.

Accordingly, standing in the goal is goalkeeper Cao Van Binh (Song Lam Nghe An), who is not a regular starter in the qualifying round but was present in the most difficult match against U19 Indonesia on a hot and violent away field. The trio of central defenders was completely renewed by Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan, including 18-year-old central defender Le Nguyen Hoang (Song Lam Nghe An) with Duc Anh and Manh Hung. Unfortunately, Trinh Hoang Canh of Song Lam Nghe An, who played extremely well in the qualifying round, was injured and could not participate. The duo of wingbacks-attacking fullbacks was also completely renewed with Van Khang (left) and Van Cuong (Song Lam Nghe An) playing on the right and we will see who is the better attacking winger in this match?

Thus, the U20 Vietnam defense-attack line with 6 people (1 goalkeeper, 3 central defenders, 2 fullbacks) has 3 people from Song Lam Nghe An, creating a solid "steel" for the defense task and a solid foundation for every counterattack of the team.

It should be added that Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan has created a new central duo consisting of Duc Viet and Duc Phu (formerly Van Khang-Van Truong), so that Van Truong can play highest as a target striker. When switching positions, the U20 attacking trio includes Quoc Viet (left), Van Truong (middle) and Thanh Nhan (right).

The golden goal of U20 Vietnam was scored from a brilliant counter-attack on the left wing by Van Khang, the ball was transferred very quickly to Quoc Viet's feet in the synchronized advance of the lines and the decisive handling of "King of the Youth Tournament" Quoc Viet was the biggest highlight of the attacking front. But to preserve the victory, the greatest credit came from the solidity and alertness of the defense, in which the "steel" Song Lam Nghe An left a strong mark.

Facing the traditional aerial ball style, taking full advantage of the opponent's physical strength and physique, with the combat experience of a young goalkeeper, Van Binh always calmly neutralizes aerial balls, tense situations, including dangerous headers from the main striker of the opponent right in the middle of the goal. Only one situation of rushing up to clear the ball in a "five-win, five-lose" situation, bouncing off a teammate and causing trouble in front of his own goal, can make Van Binh learn from his experience. Otherwise, this is a commendable debut performance on the continental stage for this goalkeeper.

Despite being physically and mentally inferior, the central defender Le Nguyen Hoang always ensured his presence at every hot spot and made decisive decisions to promptly and excellently clear the situation when the opponent approached the home goal, directly threatening Van Binh. The fact that U20 Vietnam kept a clean sheet in this match was largely due to the young star pair of Song Lam Nghe An when they were the last ones responsible for preventing the opponent from scoring.

In addition, Van Cuong's contribution on the right wing, both defensively and offensively (especially in the second half) is also worth noting. The right wing is where the opponent focuses on developing the ball to attack, is the trigger for the cutting situations, ending with the destination of the tall striker Popovic. Van Cuong played closely, persistently like a leech to prevent the opponent's crosses or deep crosses, at the same time, he rose up as a habit often seen in the youth teams and the first team of Song Lam Nghe An to cross the ball like a real winback. Unfortunately, Van Cuong's assist was not converted by Thanh Nhan into a goal to increase the score to 2-0. In the second half, it can be said that Van Cuong's crosses were truly a new point, a bright spot of U20 Vietnam.

In the final minutes, young midfielder Nam Hai was brought onto the field, while Xuan Tien - the number 1 hope of the young team of Song Lam Nghe An - has not appeared in the opening match, for unknown reasons. However, the contribution of the young team of Song Lam Nghe An on both the defense and attack fronts is very remarkable and they deserve to be tested, to bring the "steel spirit" of Song Lam Nghe An to effectively contribute to the journey to conquer the peak of U20 Vietnam in this difficult tournament.