Expectations for the youth team

(Baonghean) - The 2016 season was full of hardships for coach Ngo Quang Truong and his team at the V. League. However, looking at the preparation of U.11, U.13, U.17 and U.15 SLNA for the upcoming national youth tournament finals, Nghe An fans have every right to expect the younger generation of Nguyen Manh, Ngoc Hai, Phi Son... to revive the reputation of SLNA's training center.

Nghe An football in general and SLNA in particular have always been highly appreciated by experts and fans nationwide and are known as the cradle of Vietnamese football. Up to this point, the number of players playing in the V.League, the National First Division as well as the National Team have all witnessed the dominance of players who grew up in SLNA.

To have those joys is the result of a long journey of Nghe An youth football rising up, overcoming all shortages, and at the same time being greatly influenced by the strong competition from central training centers from Hanoi T&T, Viettel or PVF...

U15 SLNA players celebrate victory in the 2016 national group stage.

This year, only U.21 SLNA has not entered the “test of fire”. The U.11, U.13 and U.17 teams have all convincingly won tickets to the finals. It is worth mentioning that outstanding and potential faces such as captain Nguyen Hoang Anh at U.11 SLNA, Dinh Xuan Tien at U.13 SLNA or Dang Van Lam at U.17 SLNA have all demonstrated their level.

To be fair, although the real opponents have not yet been revealed in the qualifying round. However, through the matches, the young SLNA players have shown their own playing style and intentions with a certain level. If U.11 SLNA of head coach Nguyen Huy Hoang passed the qualifying round with a perfect record, scoring 23 goals, conceding 3 goals, then U.13 SLNA is also undefeated before holding their heads high in preparation for the final round.

In the final stage, coach Pham Bui Minh and his team of U.17 SLNA, despite facing difficulties in terms of personnel, still successfully passed the qualifying round 2 rounds early. In the past journey, the achievements of U.11, U.13 and U.17 SLNA were very remarkable and left many expectations.

Not stopping there, the U.15 SLNA team has just concluded the qualifying round campaign with superiority over other opponents such as Nam Dinh, Ha Tinh, Thua Thien Hue and SHB Da Nang. At the end of the qualifying round, U.15 SLNA introduced a smooth and diverse playing style in each match with faces that made waves at the 2014 National U13 Finals such as goalkeeper Nguyen Van Ba, the central defender pair Khac Luong - Van Thanh, the central midfielder duo Xuan Binh - Manh Quynh and Quoc Thanh, Van Luong in the forward line.

It is worth mentioning that the 18 goals that U.15 SLNA left in the qualifying round were all marked by the footprints of all 3 lines. Not only showing a solid playing style with only 1 goal conceded, U.15 SLNA also showed the evenness and ability to score in all lines. Thereby, officially winning the ticket to the final round as the top team of Group B with 7 wins, 1 loss, and at the same time leaving the second-placed opponent, U.15 Nam Dinh, far behind with 7 more points.

Coach Le Van Hung of the U.15 SLNA team said: “The U.15 SLNA squad this year is quite even and is starting to show some understanding. Although the goal of winning a ticket to the final round of the U.15 SLNA team has been achieved, the SLNA coaching staff always reminds the players that the opponents in the qualifying round are not yet real opponents. Only when they reach the final round of 8 teams will the strong opponents begin to appear, so the whole team must not be subjective. The whole team will try to maintain their form to achieve the best results in the final round as the goal set by the leaders.”

In the 2016 season, the target set by the Provincial People's Committee for SLNA's youth teams was only 1 gold medal and 1 bronze medal. Overall, this is not a very difficult task for the Nghe An team, but for SLNA, of course, the team holding the record for the number of championships in the U.21 (5 times), U.19 (5 times), U.17 (7 times) and U.13 (5 times) tournaments will try to excellently complete the target, winning as many medals as possible.

SLNA Club's Deputy Executive Director Nguyen Dinh Nghia affirmed: "Although the Provincial People's Committee's goal for SLNA's youth teams is like that, the team's leaders will consult with the coaching staff to try to win as many medals as possible, to regain the prestige of the province's football."

While the SLNA first team is declining day by day, Nghe An fans are placing more and more trust and expectation on a prosperous year for SLNA youth football - the mainstay of Nghe An football for decades. And that expectation is completely justified if looking back at the convincing performance and achievements of SLNA youth teams in the recent qualifying round.

Trung Kien