Will U17 Song Lam Nghe An face difficulties in the 2024 National U17 qualifying round?

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Participating in the 2024 National U17 Qualifiers, U17 Song Lam Nghe An is in Group B with U17 Hoang Anh Gia Lai, U17 Hong Linh Ha Tinh, U17 SHB Da Nang and U17 Quang Ngai. The matches in this group will be held in Pleiku, the home ground of U17 Hoang Anh Gia Lai. In the opening match of the qualifying round, U17 Song Lam Nghe An will face U17 Quang Ngai. Before the match took place, many experts assessed that the representative of the South Central Coast region was a team ranked lower than the team of coach Phan Tien Hoai (U17 Song Lam Nghe An). And that was shown as soon as the ball rolled on Pleiku Stadium. The Nghe team played completely proactively against U17 Quang Ngai. U17 Song Lam Nghe An, with a diverse playing style, pressured their opponents and created a series of dangerous situations towards the goal of U17 Quang Ngai.

Playing at a superior level, coach Phan Tien Hoai's students quickly broke the deadlock. The opening goal of U17 Song Lam Nghe An came in the 19th minute. From a through ball in the midfield area by his teammate, Phan Huu Nhat Sang successfully broke the offside trap and then ran down to face the opponent's goalkeeper, easily scoring against U17 Quang Ngai.

Despite conceding the first goal, the representative of the South Central Coast region still could not regain control of the game and continued to concede two more goals in the first half.

The goal that doubled the gap for Nghe An U17 came in the 28th minute, scored by Le Tan Dung. From an overlapping situation on the right wing, Phuc Ta passed the ball back to the second line, Le Tan Dung was there at the right time, making a tricky kick that defeated the Quang Ngai goalkeeper. Before the end of the first half, Song Lam Nghe An U17 had quickly completed the goal by raising the score to 3-0. The goal was scored by Tran Dong Thuc after an aerial battle.

Entering the second half, U17 Song Lam Nghe An still completely controlled the ball. However, coach Phan Tien Hoai's players did not maintain the high attack tempo as in the first 45 minutes. Therefore, U17 Nghe An did not score any more goals and the score of 3-0 remained the same until the end of the match.

With 3 points in the opening match of the 2024 National U17 Tournament, U17 Song Lam Nghe An temporarily ranked first. Because in the following match, the home team Hoang Anh Gia Lai was held to a 1-1 draw by U17 Hong Linh Ha Tinh.

After the match, head coach of U17 Song Lam Nghe An - Mr. Phan Tien Hoai said: “We had a smooth start. My students entered the field with a spirit of desire and confidence. All U17 Song Lam Nghe An players played with high discipline, following the tactics set by the coaching staff. I am satisfied with their performance. However, the road ahead is still very long, so we need to balance the players' strength, so that they can maintain stable performance throughout the season”.

Opportunity to pass the qualifying round of U17 Song Lam Nghe An

Participating in the 2024 National U17 Tournament, U17 Song Lam Nghe An faces many difficulties. Because this team has limited financial resources, the players have few opportunities to participate in training and competition to perfect their playing style. Before the qualifying round, coach Phan Tien Hoai's students had 6 weeks to practice techniques and tactics and only played 2 friendly matches with Hong Linh Ha Tinh. In the remaining time, U17 Song Lam Nghe An mainly divided the team into two for training. That has greatly affected the combat ability of Nghe An's strikers.

In addition, in order to prepare the force for the Vietnam National U17 team to compete in the Asian U17 Tournament held at the end of 2024, the organizing committee of the 2024 National U17 Tournament has made some adjustments to the regulations. In particular, the requirement for players participating in the tournament must be born from 2008 onwards. This has caused the U17 Song Lam Nghe An team to lose a lot of strength. Because, if competing at the right age, the U17 Nghe An team will have the participation of many talents such as goalkeeper Bao Ngoc, striker Quoc Hoa, midfielder Quoc Dung...

However, with the current force, U17 Song Lam Nghe An is still considered a strong candidate for a ticket to the final round. Because in fact, most of the U17 Song Lam Nghe An squad is the predecessor of the U15 Song Lam Nghe An team that won the runner-up position at the 2023 National U15 Tournament. Therefore, in the hands of coach Phan Tien Hoai, there are impressive faces such as: Dong Thuc, Phan Huu Nhat Sang, Le Tan Dung... These will be important factors to help the U17 Song Lam Nghe An's playing style become more solid, effective and highly variable.

Returning to the qualifying round this year, there are 22 teams divided into 4 groups, in 4 different regions. According to the tournament rules, the teams compete in a round-robin format to calculate the ranking points in each group. The 4 first-place teams, 4 second-place teams and 3 third-place teams with the best results in the 4 groups are selected to compete in the final round.

Looking at Group B, it can be seen that the host Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Hong Linh Ha Tinh are the two direct competitors for the ticket to the final round with U17 Song Lam Nghe An. There is no doubt that the mountain town team is highly appreciated with careful preparation and is the home team in this group. Meanwhile, Hong Linh Ha Tinh is led by veteran coach Nguyen Van Thinh, so it will be a very formidable opponent. Notably, before participating in the tournament, in a friendly match, U15 Hong Linh Ha Tinh played impressively against U15 Song Lam Nghe An, with 1 draw and 1 win.

It can be affirmed that Group B of the 2024 National U17 Qualifiers will have fierce competition between the three opponents Song Lam Nghe An, Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Hong Linh Ha Tinh. In addition, SHB Da Nang may also cause difficulties for the above teams. To win a ticket to the next round, coach Phan Tien Hoai's team needs to maintain stable performance, along with flexible tactics and high discipline. Hopefully, with the "experience" they have, U17 Song Lam Nghe An will not encounter difficulties in the 2024 National U17 Qualifiers.