Defeating Viettel, U19 Song Lam Nghe An entered the semi-finals of the National U19 tournament

Quarterfinal match of the 2025 National U19 Tournament betweenU19 Song Lam Nghe Anand U19 Viettel took place on the afternoon of February 23, at Tan Hung Stadium, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province.

Previously, in the group stage, U19 Song Lam Nghe An, after only winning U19 Binh Phuoc in the last match with a score of 3-0, had to accept second place in group C. Thus, U19 Song Lam Nghe An ended the group stage with an undefeated record, winning 2 matches and drawing with the top team U19 Hong Linh Ha Tinh with a score of 2-2.

With that result, U19 Song Lam Nghe An had to face a team that is considered quite strong in this year's season, U19 Viettel.

Facing this difficult confrontation, coach Nguyen Huy Hoang used a 3-5-2 formation to enter the match. In which, the strategist from Nghe An used personnel for the defense including 3 central defenders: Van Tam, Dong Thuc, Tan Dung.

The 5-man midfield is composed of: Tan Minh, Van Linh, Quoc Trung, Trong Tuan and Anh Dung.

The two highest players on the attack line are: Trong Son and Phung Van Nam.

With the determination to be present in the semi-finals for the 8th time, the U19 Song Lam Nghe An players entered the match with great effort. However, the bad grass field with many bumps significantly affected the ability of the Nghe players to control the ball. Because of this, for more than half of the first half, U19 Song Lam Nghe An almost did not create any dangerous opportunities in front of the opponent's goal.

Meanwhile, U19 Viettel, with their physical advantage, used many long passes with high damage. This made goalkeeper Bao Ngoc have to work hard to block some situations going down the sideline and then passing back inside by the opponent.

After a difficult start, in the 35th minute, U19 Song Lam Nghe An began to regain control of the game and deployed some sharp passes on the right wing, where midfielder Tan Minh participated.

And it was this player who sparked the opening goal in the 37th minute for U19 Song Lam Nghe An. The goal came from a powerful throw-in by Tan Minh, Phung Van Nam headed the ball to Van Tam. This center back then made a technical header that flew out of the opponent's goalkeeper's control, helping Song Lam Nghe An take the lead.

Entering the second half, with the excitement after scoring a goal in the first half, U19 Song Lam Nghe An played enthusiastically and created a series of situations threatening the opponent's goal.

However, when U19 Nghe An had not doubled the gap, the surprise came in the 65th minute of the match. Cong Hau (Viettel) dribbled the ball strongly in SLNA's penalty area, forcing center back Dong Thuc to commit a foul. Very quickly after that, the referee pointed to the 11m mark and Viettel was awarded a penalty kick. Dang Thanh Binh did not make any mistake to help the army team equalize the match score.

After conceding the goal, U19 Song Lam Nghe An quickly regained their composure to organize an attack with the hope of reestablishing the lead.

And after many diverse attacks, U19 Song Lam Nghe An finally raised the score to 2-1 in the 76th minute of the match. From the right wing, Anh Dung crossed the ball to the near post for Trong Tuan, the midfielder wearing the number 30 shirt jumped high and headed the ball into Viettel's net.

In the final minutes of the match, U19 Viettel launched a high attack to find an equalizer but were unsuccessful. Therefore, the final score of the match was 2-1 in favor of U19 Song Lam Nghe An.

Overcoming Viettel in the quarter-finals, U19 Song Lam Nghe An has officially entered the semi-finals of the National U19 Tournament for the 8th time.

Duc Anh