New Year of the Rat 2020: Many expectations from Nghe An players

In 2019, Nghe An youth football continued to achieve outstanding successes such as the championship of the National Youth Football Championship of the SLNA U11 and SLNA U13 teams. In 2020, with the input work being tightened and improved, SLNA U11 continues to be expected to successfully defend the championship for the third time.

The core of this age group is the faces discovered and shined at the Youth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup last year as well as in 2020. In 2019, the Quy Hop Children's Football Team won the championship and Tan Ky Youth reached the pinnacle of glory. The 24th Youth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup promises to be very attractive and is a place to provide many bright talents for SLNA.

The U15 SLNA players who won the championship in 2018 will be the backbone of the U17 SLNA team this year. Photo: Trung Kien

With the SLNA U13 team, in 2020, this team will be supplemented with players who won the silver medal at the 2019 National Youth and Children Football Championship. They and the remaining players of the current quality SLNA U13 team also have a bright chance to successfully defend the championship. Similarly, the SLNA U15 team will also have additional factors that helped SLNA U13 win the championship last year.

With the SLNA U17 age group, although they did not achieve high results last year, this generation of players will have more promising players such as Cai Van Quy, Ngo Xuan Son, Ngo Van Bac, Nguyen Van Bay, Tran Dinh Thanh... Up to 9 SLNA U15 players last year were called up to the Vietnam U16 team after the 2019 championship. Therefore, this age group is also highly anticipated.

In 2019, SLNA only won the bronze medal in the U19 age group with players who won the national U13 championship in 2014. In 2019, there were also 6 players called up by coach Philippe Troussier to the Vietnam U19 team, including goalkeeper Nguyen Van Ba, defenders Ho Khac Luong, Vuong Van Huy, midfielders Nguyen Xuan Binh, Dang Quang Tu and Tran Manh Quynh.

Striker Ho Tuan Tai is one of the players who promises to shine in 2020 at the age of 25. Photo: Archive

They will be the core of the SLNA U19 team participating in the National U19 Tournament, the qualifying round takes place from February 10 to February 20. In the qualifying round, SLNA U19 is in the same group with Thua Thien - Hue, SHB Da Nang, Nam Dinh and Thanh Hoa. The final round is expected to take place from March 16 to March 26, 2020. This is also the opening tournament in the new year 2020 at the national youth level.

In 2020, the Vietnam U19 team will participate in the AFC U19 Championship from October 14 to 31. This is a generation of players that the Vietnam Football Federation has invested in and set a goal of participating in the 2026 World Cup, so coach Philippe Troussier and his team are expected to go far and win tickets to the U20 World Cup.

In the U21 age group, SLNA's best recent achievement was the bronze medal in 2017. This year, this age group is not highly rated. However, with coach Ngo Quang Truong adding 7-8 faces to the first team to participate in the V.League such as Nguyen Van Viet, Tran Ngoc Anh, Dang Van Lam, Thai Ba Sang, Nguyen Ba Duc, Tran Dinh Tien, it will create conditions for them to compete and mature. From there, it will be the foundation and experience for them to compete well in the National U21 Qualifiers to improve their performance.

In the National Championship, Ho Chi Minh City Club, Viettel Club, and Hai Phong Club are the teams with the most players from Nghe An. For Ho Chi Minh City Club, the return of Phi Son combined with Cong Phuong and Hoang Thinh will make this team one of the most worth-watching clubs in the V.League. Not only that, Ho Chi Minh City Club will also represent Vietnam in the 2020 AFC Cup. This is a good opportunity for these players to score points in the eyes of Coach Park Hang-seo.

Phan Van Duc promises to return to the national team. Photo: AFC

Viettel Club currently has 4 players from SLNA, namely Trong Hoang, Ngoc Hai, Khac Ngoc, and Nguyen Manh. With strong investment, The Cong's successor team is considered a strong candidate to compete for the championship with Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi clubs. Meanwhile, Hai Phong, with its coaching staff including coaches from Nghe An such as Pham Anh Tuan, Le Quoc Vuong, Pham Bui Minh, and a series of Nghe An players, is also a formidable team.

With SLNA, the Nghe An team will welcome the return of players who have just returned from injury such as Phan Van Duc, Pham Xuan Manh, Vo Ngoc Duc. In particular, this is the year that players like Hoang Van Khanh and Ho Tuan Tai become the pillars of the team. Their ability to return to the national team is still intact if they have good performances at the V.League National Championship. SLNA will also be the team with the most youthful energy with the addition of goalkeeper Nguyen Van Hoang, who is expected to replace Nguyen Manh in goal.

In 2020, the focus will be on the first two training sessions when Vietnam will play the remaining matches of Group G of the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup against Malaysia, Indonesia and UAE on March 31, June 4 and June 9. Of which, the match against Indonesia will be played at home at My Dinh Stadium.

Another major tournament in 2020 is the AFF Cup taking place at the end of the year. It is expected that the Vietnamese national team players will have about 1 month to prepare and compete from November 23 to December 31. The goal of coach Park Hang-seo and his team is nothing other than defending the championship with the return of Dinh Trong and Van Duc.

The last day of the year of Que Ngoc Hai and his wife Thuy Phuong | Corner of the field 09

(Baonghean.vn) - In the special program "Corner of the Grass" of Nghe An Newspaper on the occasion of Lunar New Year 2020, central defender Que Ngoc Hai shared his memories and stories after a year of quite successful competition in the new club's jersey as well as at the national team level.