New 'gold mine' of Song Lam Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - If up to now, SLNA's youth training has witnessed the "overwhelming" presence of talents from Do Luong, Quynh Luu, Hung Nguyen... then in recent years, more and more young talents from Yen Thanh district have come to the Nghe An team with the dream of becoming professional players.

Before 2010, Yen Thanh was almost unknown on the football map of Nghe An like Vinh City, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen, Quynh Luu districts... Those are the localities where grassroots football developed very strongly and provided many "rough gems" for SLNA training center. The bridge was the traditional Nghe An Newspaper Youth - ND Cup Football Tournament.

Many promising players from the rice fields of Yen Thanh are training at the U.14 SLNA team.

However, since winning the Youth Championship at the Youth Football Tournament – ​​Youth Cup of Nghe An Newspaper for two consecutive years in 2011 and 2012, Yen Thanh football has shown its hidden strength. And although it missed the Youth Championship 3 times in the following 3 years, other localities are not allowed to underestimate the level of young players from Yen Thanh.

Currently, in SLNA's first team, there are initially two Yen Thanh players, Pham Xuan Manh and Phan Van Duc, born in 1996. In addition, in the U21 age group of SLNA, there is also a very promising midfielder, Hoang Vu Dat, who is currently playing for Phu Yen Club in the First Division on loan. These three players are all the core of the U17 SLNA team that won the championship in 2012 in Hue with coach Ngo Quang Truong.

Midfielder Pham Xuan Manh (26) is increasingly asserting himself in SLNA's first team.

According to statistics, there are currently 23 Yen Thanh players in the SLNA youth team. The U15 and U13 teams are currently witnessing the dominance of young players from the rice fields. In addition, other SLNA youth teams also have 2-3 players. A typical example is Duong Van Cuong - the current number 1 goalkeeper of U19 SLNA.

Looking for the reason for the rise of football in this locality, Mr. Nguyen Viet Cong - Deputy Director of Yen Thanh District Sports Center shared: "With the authorization of SLNA, Yen Thanh District opened an amateur football training class right in the locality. With the attention of the district leaders, Yen Thanh District organizes the Youth - Youth Football Tournament every year and requires all 39 communes to participate seriously. From there, the best factors in the U10 age group are selected to join SLNA's amateur class."

On the other hand, according to Mr. Cong, one of the factors that helps young players of Yen Thanh increasingly assert their abilities is thanks to the encouragement and admiration of local people and, more importantly, their parents. The cadres trained by SLNA and authorized to open amateur classes in Yen Thanh, such as Mr. Nguyen Duc Nhan, are all people with professional qualifications and passion for their work. These are almost all the factors that have contributed to the initial success of Yen Thanh football, and the clearest proof will be Yen Thanh's performance at the upcoming TN - ND Cup Nghe An Newspaper 2016 football tournament.

Trung Kien