Teenage 'stars' at Nghe An Newspaper Cup

Double title of Quynh's teenage striker

Along with the joy of successfully defending the championship of the Youth Football Tournament - Children's Cup of Nghe An Newspaper with his teammates, player Nguyen Chi Cong - striker of Quynh Luu Youth team also had a special joy, which was winning both titles: Best Player and Top Scorer.

Born in 2012, the eldest of two children, Nguyen Chi Cong is currently a student at Tan Son Secondary School. Passionate about football since he was 4-5 years old, in the summer of 2022, after finishing 4th grade, when he heard that a community football class was being opened in the neighboring commune of Quynh Tam, Chi Cong asked his parents to join.

Here, despite his small stature, with his agile and skillful feet, Nguyen Chi Cong quickly caught the eye of coach Duong Vu Phong - an officer of the Center for Culture - Sports and Communications of Quynh Luu district, head coach of the Quynh Luu football teams participating in the Youth - Children's Football Tournament of Nghe An Newspaper Cup.

A year later, this player was selected for the Quynh Luu District Children's Team to participate in the Youth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup, playing on the left wing. Although Quynh Luu Children's Team had to stop in the quarter-finals and Nguyen Chi Cong himself did not score any goals, the experiences in this playground gave Cong a lot of experience as well as determination to become more mature in the way he plays football.

This season, Nguyen Chi Cong was assigned by coach Duong Vu Phong to play as a striker, responsible for scoring goals. And this player has completed his task excellently, contributing more than half of the goals of the Quynh team (6/11).

After failing to score in the first match, Nguyen Chi Cong started scoring regularly from the second match. In the confrontations with Hung Nguyen Youth in the second round of the group stage, Quy Chau Youth in the quarter-finals, Quy Hop Youth in the semi-finals and Vinh City Youth in the final, this striker scored 1 goal/match. In the match against Hoang Mai Youth in the last round of the group stage, Nguyen Chi Cong scored a double.

In addition to his ability to seize scoring opportunities, Nguyen Chi Cong also made a strong impression with his tireless enthusiasm and ability to coordinate smoothly with his teammates. In many situations, this player was also willing to retreat to the middle of the field to pass the ball to his teammates on the two wings to finish. Therefore, it was not surprising that in addition to being the top scorer, this player also won the title of Best Player of the tournament.

Trusted checkpoint of Vinh city teenagers

Although Vinh City Youth could not reclaim the debt from last year against Quynh Luu Youth in the final match, this team "introduced" an excellent goalkeeper, Pham Hoang Gia Bao.

Born in 2012 but already nearly 1m70 tall, this young goalkeeper residing in Hung Phuc ward has been attached to the goalkeeper position since the first day he joined the community football class opened in the ward since grade 3. However, because Vinh city has produced many excellent young goalkeepers in recent years, it was not until this year's season that Gia Bao was able to experience the exciting atmosphere of the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament in the Vinh City Youth team.

In addition to his outstanding physique, Pham Hoang Gia Bao's advantages are his stable competitive mentality, reasonable entry and exit, and good reflexes. In addition, during the training process to prepare for the tournament, Gia Bao also received dedicated guidance from a former goalkeeper coach of Song Lam Nghe An Football Club to gradually perfect his skills.

At this year’s Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament, Vinh City Youth was not highly rated in terms of defensive organization. However, the excellence of goalkeeper Pham Hoang Gia Bao made up for that weakness, and at the same time, created peace of mind for the players on the front line.

During the journey to the runner-up position, with 5 goals conceded, although he was not the goalkeeper who conceded the fewest goals, his excellent saves and accurate kick-offs and counter-attacks made Pham Hoang Gia Bao the most outstanding goalkeeper of the tournament. According to experts, the title of Best Goalkeeper for him was completely deserved.

Like Nguyen Chi Cong, Pham Hoang Gia Bao is the eldest of two brothers. “My idol is Spanish goalkeeper De Gea and I always want to become a professional goalkeeper. However, whether I can fulfill that wish or not depends on my family’s conditions and my parents’ decision. For now, I just want to study well and play football regularly to satisfy my passion,” the young goalkeeper shared.