Nghe An Newspaper Cup 2019: Con Cuong Children are ready for 'fiery' matches

The players and coaching staff of the Con Cuong children's team are ready to go down the mountain to compete. Photo: Ba Hau

Unlike many other districts, this year Con Cuong only registered for children's teams to participate. With the determination to nurture and develop young football talents, the members of the coaching board went to the most remote villages to "seek out" and select players.

There are many players in border communes whose homes are dozens of kilometers away from the district's training center, such as Chau Khe, Mon Son...

The selection in a large area gives the team a consistent and quality squad of players. Photo: Ba Hau

Mr. Cao Xuan Tung, coach of the children's football team, said: "The most difficult thing at first was still arranging a reasonable time to practice for the children. Each child has a different location, so it is very difficult to agree on a certain time for practice. At first, we only practiced 2 sessions a week, then increased it to 3 sessions/week. Gradually, the children got used to it and now we are practicing 7 sessions/week."

The achievements of the Con Cuong District Children's Football Team over the past years have not been good. However, every time the team competes, many people travel from the mountainous district of Con Cuong to cheer for their children. This is also a great source of motivation for sports people in Con Cuong District to try to improve the team's achievements in this year's tournament.

Cao Xuan Tung - Coach of Con Cuong Children's Football Team

“Because of their passion for football, many children do not mind the hardships and travel dozens of kilometers with their parents every day to get to the training location. Seeing the children's hard work gives us more motivation and new hope. Hopefully this year we will have better results than previous years,” Mr. Tung added.

In previous years, every time Con Cuong children participated in Nghe An Newspaper Cup, they did not leave an impression on the organizers or fans. In the photo, the ball fight between the players of Con Cuong Children's Team (in white shirts) and Nam Dan Children's Team competing in the qualifying round of Nghe An Newspaper Cup 2018. Photo: Ho Phuong

Student Chuong Hong Duc said: “I and the other players of the team are ready in terms of technique, mentality and physical strength to participate in the tournament, trying to compete with all my might, bringing high achievements to the team. I personally admire the Song Lam Nghe An Football Team and hope to be able to join the Song Lam Nghe An youth training center in the future. To reach that dream in this tournament is an opportunity for me to prove myself."

Hope lies not only in the coaching staff and the young players, but also in their parents. Mr. Tran Van Thanh, parent of player Tran Van Dat in Chau Khe commune, shared: "Because our house is more than 15 km away from the training ground, every morning, my son and I have to get up at 5am. There are days when we come home and see him quite tired, but because of his passion, we always cheer and accompany him. The tournament is going to be held in Vinh soon, my wife and I are arranging our work to go cheer for him and the team."

Con Cuong Children's Football Team promises to contribute exciting matches, bringing achievements to the home team. Photo: Ba Hau