SLNA - Why?

Disappointed visitors

Although in addition to the Hai Phong coaching board, there are 3 people who are originally fromSLNAAlong with central defender Pham Manh Hung, Nguyen Ba Duc, midfielder Nguyen Van Hanh also came from SLNA but people still expect a fair match. SLNA needs 3 points to enter the top 8, Hai Phong needs to "scrape points" to go to the reverse final.V.League 2020.

But the match at Lach Tray Stadium left a big disappointment for Nghe An fans. Especially when the neighboring team Hong Linh Ha Tinh had a spectacular 3-2 victory over Quang Nam to finish 8th. But those who know SLNA well believe that 11th place and having to go to the reverse final is an accurate reflection of the team's strength.

SLNA players played quite hard on Hai Phong field. Photo: VPF

Due to the lack of thorough preparation for the season, SLNA only had the first 5 rounds. The 2-0 victory over HAGL at Vinh Stadium was just a "bright" moment in the long journey of the season. The process of recruiting foreign players was quite complicated and costly, but the 3 foreign strikers of SLNA only helped the Nghe team score 1 goal, the worst in V.League 2020.

Not only this season but for many years now, people have been bringing “wooden legs” to Vinh Stadium and pushing a series of quality domestic players away. Even foreign player Mansaray was criticized by the SLNA recruitment board, joiningHong Linh Ha Tinhlate also had 2 goals.

When domestic players cannot "carry" foreign players, SLNA's scoring ability is too poor, only having 10 goals after 13 matches, losing to Hong Linh Ha Tinh and only bettering Hai Phong and Thanh Hoa teams is understandable. The defense, which is SLNA's strong point, this season under the direction ofCoach Ngo Quang Truongand assistant Huy Hoang conceded 16 goals. Looking at the third goal conceded at Lach Tray stadium, viewers could not believe that this was the team that had just won against HAGL and no one believed that Hai Phong was in 13th place.

Big question mark

Playing with such a poor defense, despite 6 difficult matches with only 2 draws and 4 losses, they were still able to comfortably score 3 goals. A match in which coach Quang Truong and his team helped Hai Phong rekindle their hope of staying in the league. 3 points were enough for SLNA and Hai Phong to advance to the reverse final round, a sad ending. SLNA's loose defense allowed Hai Phong striker Diego Silva to shine with a hat-trick quite easily. A match in which people only saw the aggressiveness of 3 foreign players, the remaining players, including Van Duc, just stood around on the field.

Diego Silva shined with a fairly easy hat-trick. Photo VPF

With the advantage of 3 home matches and a gap of 6 points compared to the bottom team, the risk of SLNA being relegated is quite low. But for a team with a long history like SLNA, this is a sad ending.

Everyone knows that SLNA is the most traditional football team in Vietnam, never knowing relegation. However, now, the yellow team, the pride of millions of Nghe An people, is struggling to stay in the league, which is a huge disappointment. SLNA - why?