New expectations…

1. The Vietnamese women's team has just finished the 2014 Asian Cup Qualifiers with quite an impressive record: 3 wins against Bahrain, Kyrgkyzstan, Hong Kong, with the scores of 8-0, 12-0, 4-0. With this result, our women's team has won a ticket to the 2014 Asian Cup Finals. Another good news came when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially awarded the right to host the 2014 Asian Cup Finals to Vietnam (taking place from May 14 to 25, 2014). At this Finals, 5 teams will be selected to represent Asia to participate in the 2015 World Cup Finals in Canada.

According to experts, after the top Asian team, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, was banned from competing, it is almost certain that Australia, Japan, China and South Korea will win official tickets. The remaining spot will be a race between the host team Vietnam and the teams of Thailand and Myanmar. With the home field advantage and what the female players have shown in recent times, fans are expecting that for the first time, Vietnamese football will have a ticket to the World Cup.

2. U23 Vietnam has officially gathered to prepare for the friendly match with Kashima Antlers Club in Hanoi on June 4, 2013. This is the first match that Coach Hoang Van Phuc will debut as Head Coach of U23 Vietnam to prepare for the upcoming journey to conquer the 27th SEA Games. Although he is a "good" coach with young teams such as U16, U19, U22, this time it seems that fans and experts consider choosing Coach Hoang Van Phuc a "gamble". Because Coach Hoang Van Phuc's achievements at the club, U23 and national team levels have not made any significant impression.



The U23 team's achievements at SEA Games 27 are depending on the talent of promising players like Phi Son.

Most recently, the Vietnamese national team under Mr. Phuc lost all of their matches in the 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers, including a defeat against Hong Kong - a team that we have never lost to before. Therefore, what fans expect this time is not the coach's leadership or tactics, but the young players who are playing quite impressively in the V.League and have been called up to the U23 team such as Tran Nguyen Manh, Ngo Hoang Thinh, Phi Son, Danh Ngoc, Manh Dung, Van Thang, Van Quyet, Hoang Thien... and another new factor is the overseas Vietnamese striker Mac Hong Quan.

3. This year, the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament has entered the age of "breaking the buffalo horn". After 16 years of organization, the Tournament has left many impressions in the hearts of fans in Nghe An and the whole country. The Tournament is considered a "solid foundation" for the development of SLNA Club to a higher level; the origin of national football talents; a useful playground for teenagers and children in Nghe An... With the desire to organize the tournament more and more professionally, this year Nghe An Newspaper decided to invite SLNA Club to join the Organizing Committee to support professional work.



The Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament will be a festival of "eating football, sleeping football" for Nghe An fans.

Accordingly, before entering the tournament, the referees and coaches of the teams will be trained on the Football Laws and the Tournament Regulations; personnel work will be done more strictly and systematically... Instead of competing in the qualifying round at the grassroots level, this season the Organizing Committee will invite all the teams participating in the Tournament to compete at the "fire pan of Thanh Vinh"... With the careful and dedicated preparation of the organizers, we believe that the 17th Youth-Children Football Tournament Nghe An Newspaper Cup will bring the festival of "eating football, sleeping football" to Nghe An fans and teenagers and children.

Duc Dung