Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament: Another 'sweet fruit season'

During the 7 days of competition, the 23rd Youth - Youth Football Tournament Nghe An Newspaper Cup 2019 took place with 56 matches, with the participation of nearly 500 players, 32 teams from 21 districts, cities and towns in the province. The matches were all attractive, dramatic and exciting. The young players tried their best for the flag and contributed to the tournament with many good plays and beautiful goals; creating explosive moments, spreading to thousands of fans present on the field as well as tens of thousands of domestic and foreign audiences enjoying the matches online on Nghe An Newspaper's social networking sites.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh awarded the Championship Cup to Tan Ky Youth Team. Photo: Ho Phuong

This season, according to the assessment of Nghe An football fans, the quality of the teams has been improved, the gap in skill level between teams has been narrowed, there is no longer any distinction between regions. In particular, many surprises have occurred, such as the courageous victory of ND Anh Son against the strong team ND Nghi Loc. Then ND Quy Hop and ND Tan Ky eliminated a series of traditional "training centers" to meet each other in the final match. Or Tan Ky Youth after many years returned to the Nghe An Newspaper Cup and became a phenomenon of the season.

Beautiful plays at the Youth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup 2019.

Holding the Championship Cup high. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The 23rd Youth - Children's Football Tournament of Nghe An Newspaper Cup in 2019 welcomed two new champions, Quy Hop Children's and Tan Ky Youth. These two teams played explosively and won "like cutting bamboo" to reach the highest position of the tournament. Quy Hop Children's won the Championship after 23 years of waiting and constant effort. Tan Ky Youth, in their return to the tournament after many years, made a great impression.

In terms of expertise, the 23rd Youth Football Tournament of Nghe An Newspaper Cup in 2019 was extremely successful. In addition to the exciting matches, the Tournament organized meaningful sideline experiences for the participating young players such as: Interacting with famous Vietnamese coaches and football stars; watching the training sessions of the first team of Song Lam Nghe An Club and immersing themselves in the exciting atmosphere of the "fire pan" of Vinh Stadium in SLNA's 3-0 victory over HAGL... Accompanying the Tournament Organizing Committee, many football teams organized for the children to visit historical sites in Vinh city and surrounding areas.

Bursting with joy at winning the tournament. Photo: PV

The factors contributing to the success of the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament are the wholehearted efforts of the Organizing Committee and the support of dedicated sponsors. The young players who participated in the tournament received many meaningful gifts such as: school bags from the Provincial People's Committee, the title of Good Student, Good Football Player from the Organizing Committee; all the tournament uniforms from Saigon Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company... Participating in this year's tournament, each team was also sponsored 10 million VND by PVF Youth Football Training Center (Vingroup Corporation) and received many other meaningful gifts in cash and in kind from the sponsors.

The Nghe An Newspaper Cup 2019 football tournament received enthusiastic cheers from a large audience.

The tournament was also successful thanks to the enthusiasm of the spectators who came to cheer for the teams. They were parents and young football lovers who did not mind the long distance and busy work, from Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Tan Ky, Quy Hop, Que Phong, Quy Chau... to Vinh City to support the teams.

It was touching when parents and businesses in Quy Hop district “contributed a little, contributed a lot” to support the two youth and children’s football teams to compete. The staff of Ky Son district’s Sports and Culture Center lent the team 1 month’s salary to compete in Vinh city when the district had not yet arranged the funding in time.

It was also touching when the leaders of the Party Committees and authorities of Quynh Luu, Quy Hop, Thanh Chuong, Tan Ky and Yen Thanh districts also came to Vinh, standing in the sun to watch the children's running steps. Mr. Pham Ngoc Canh - Deputy Secretary of the Quynh Luu District Party Committee said: With a tradition of 23 years, the Youth - Youth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup has been a very useful playground for children in the summer, contributing to the development of Nghe An and the whole country's football. Participating in the tournament has helped children have valuable experiences, have very meaningful summer days. The tournament also created a movement to practice physical exercise and sports, a movement to join hands to care for the young generation in a broad way from the province to the district and commune.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Pham Thi Hong Toan - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nghe An Newspaper awarded Gold medals to the two champion teams. Photo: Archive

Mr. Dang An Hai - Deputy Director of Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company awarded prizes to the best players. Photo: Document

In addition to the enthusiastic support and creation of the best conditions for the teams to participate in the tournament from parents, 39 sponsors, authorities, and local Party committees from communes to districts, towns, and cities, the 13th Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament in 2019 also continued to receive the attention of provincial departments, branches, and organizations, especially the provincial leaders who attended the opening and closing ceremonies and shared joy and gave gifts to the players and teams. These were sources of encouragement for the teams to compete with all their might throughout the season, encouraging the players to "study well and play football well".

Responding to the trust and admiration of the people for youth football, for the Bao Cup, this year's tournament, the Organizing Committee continues to invest carefully and systematically with the application of digital technology and social networks, bringing the tournament to all parts of the country and to Nghe An football fans abroad. The matches are reported live on the fanpages of Nghe An Newspaper, contributing to making the tournament show professionalism and attractiveness. Audiences who do not have the conditions to go to the stadium to cheer can watch live reports of dramatic matches, beautiful goals, impromptu dribbling... There are many matches with tens of thousands of online viewers.

There are many players who grew up from the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament who are currently playing for the national team.

Always present on the youth and children's fields are scouts, youth coaches of Song Lam Nghe An Club and many other training centers. They come here to look for good "seeds" to bring to the club for training. In the 2017 season, up to 40 "young" players participating in the tournament were selected for the gifted class of SLNA "furnace"; in the 2018 season, up to 25 young players were selected and this year's season has a similar number. The players selected today will be a sweet harvest for Nghe An football, Vietnamese football for many years to come. They will follow in the footsteps of their seniors such as Van Quyen, Cong Vinh, Duong Hong Son, Cong Phuong, Nguyen Manh, Que Ngoc Hai, Phan Van Duc, Pham Xuan Manh... to make Vietnamese football famous in the international arena. Very promising!

Mr. Pascal Vaudequin - Deputy Technical Director of PVF Youth Football Training Center commented: The Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament is a quality, practical and useful tournament. Through the tournament, football talents are revealed. Through the tournament, these talents are brought back to be nurtured and developed by training centers such as Song Lam Nghe An Club and PVF Youth Football Training Center. Whether Vietnamese football is successful or not must start from tournaments like the Newspaper Cup.

Mr. Pascal Vaudequin - Deputy Technical Director of Vietnam Youth Football Training Center (PVF) awarded prizes to outstanding individuals of the Children's age group. Photo: Ho Phuong

The 2019 Nghe An Newspaper Cup season has come to an end. Congratulations to the two teams Quy Hop Children's and Tan Ky Youth Football Teams for winning the Championship; wishing the teams and players a joyful and rewarding summer; congratulating the players selected by Song Lam Nghe An Football Club. See you all in the 2020 season!