The Thanh Vinh Ward youth football team is participating for the first time in the Nghe An Newspaper and Radio & Television Cup.

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The 2026 Nghe An Newspaper and Radio & Television Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament is receiving great attention from localities and community football training centers in the province. As of noon on May 15th, 31 teams had registered to participate in the tournament, including 17 children's teams and 14 youth teams.

Notably, this is the first time that gifted classes from wards and communes have been given the opportunity to participate in this traditional tournament.

Currently, the SLNA Youth Football Training Center has 25 satellite talent classes located in various wards and communes throughout Nghe An province. Among them, the Thanh Vinh Ward Talent Team, coached by Tran Ngoc Tuan, is one of the teams that has received high expectations.

Speaking to reporters from Nghe An Newspaper and Radio & Television, Coach Tran Ngoc Tuan could not hide his emotion as his players participated for the first time in this prestigious youth football tournament of Nghe An province.

“We are really excited about this tournament. Our youth teams have never participated in the Newspaper Cup before. It's a great honor for the children to compete in such a traditional tournament,” shared coach Tran Ngoc Tuan.

Not only the coaching staff, but also the parents and young players are eagerly awaiting the start of the tournament. For many children, this will be their first time competing on a large stage, a place that has served as a launching pad for many famous football players in Nghe An.

According to coach Tran Ngoc Tuan, the biggest strength of the SLNA youth team is their passion and consistent training throughout the year.

"The children have been training continuously, so they have a good foundation. Although it's a gifted class, they love football and have a serious attitude towards training," he said.

This team's recent achievements have been quite impressive. At the end of 2025, they won the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Tournament. More recently, they triumphed again at the Four-Team Tournament among youth football teams from regions such as Hoang Mai and Nghia Dan.

However, the coach, born in 1953, remains quite cautious when evaluating his players.

"The children are still young and need more time to mature. But the most important thing is that they have passion and a desire to play football," he added.

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Behind the excitement of these youth football teams lies a long and quiet journey of searching for and nurturing young talent.

Coach Tran Ngoc Tuan said that in order to maintain an effective talent development program, he and his colleagues have had to continuously scout players at schools and local areas for many years.

"To have a good talent class, you have to look for players year-round. Many parents hear about the football class and proactively bring their children to train," he said.

From those community-based talent classes, many players have matured and been selected for the youth teams of Song Lam Nghe An. Among them are quite a few who have been called up to the national youth teams.

Coach Tran Ngoc Tuan recounted that his football academy had trained many promising players such as Dong Thuc and Quang Hung, who are now playing for the Vietnamese youth national teams (U19 and U17 Vietnam).

What's remarkable is that many players, when they first arrive at the talent class, have small physiques and aren't particularly outstanding. But through passion and perseverance, many of them have gradually proven themselves.

Therefore, participating in the Nghe An Newspaper and Radio & Television Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament holds great significance for the community football talent classes.

It's not just an opportunity to compete and gain experience, but also a chance for young players to showcase their abilities and nurture their dreams of becoming professional players in the future.

For coach Tran Ngoc Tuan, competitions like the Newspaper Cup always hold special value. "In youth football, the greatest hope is to give the children the opportunity to compete. Only through competition can they mature and nurture their passion for football," he shared.

The tournament hasn't even started yet, but for many talented SLNA teams, the journey at the 2026 Nghe An Newspaper and Radio & Television Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament will be a beautiful memory. Because for the first time, these young players will be stepping onto the playing field that has nurtured countless generations of football legends from Nghe An province.

Duc Anh