Song Lam Nghe An falls into a difficult group at the 2024 National U19 Championship

On the morning of December 20, the draw ceremony for the qualifying round of the 2024 National U19 Football Championship took place at the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Headquarters. The first youth football tournament of 2024 recorded a record number, with a total of 35 teams registering to compete in the qualifying round.

U19 Song Lam Nghe An will participate in the 2024 National U19 Tournament as the runner-up of the 2023 season. Last season, the Nghe An team lost to U19 Thanh Hoa on penalties in the final match.

Regarding the squad situation, some outstanding players from last season such as Nguyen Quang Vinh, Le Nguyen Hoang, Cao Van Binh have moved up to play for the first team. Coach Nguyen Huy Hoang plans to promote young players born in 2006 to participate in this tournament.

Meanwhile, U19 Song Lam Nghe An's opponents this season have an even squad of players, and have competed in the National Second Division and National U21 tournaments. Another difficulty for coach Huy Hoang and his team is that this year's tournament is divided by geographical area, so only the top team will be selected and at most 5/7 second-place teams will qualify for the final round (12 teams will qualify for the final round).

Song Lam Nghe An fell into group C, along with the home team U19 Hue, and it will not be easy for coach Huy Hoang and his team, because U19 Hue this year is also very potential, along with that, U19 Da Nang in the 2022 season, 2 consecutive third place U19 and U21, or Quang Nam is also doing well in youth training, showing that this group is also very exciting.

In the 2024 U19 qualifying round, VFF divided 7 groups as follows: Group A (playing at Viettel Sports Center) has 5 teams including: The Cong Viettel, Hanoi, PVF-CAND, Nam Dinh, Dao Ha Sports Center. Group B (playing at PVF Training Center))There are 5 teams: PVF, Thanh Hoa, Hanoi Police, Ha Tinh and Luxury Ha Long.

Group C (in Hue) has 5 teams: Hue, Da Nang, Song Tra Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and SLNA. Group D (in Gia Lai) has 5 teams: LP Bank HAGL, Kon Tum, Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, Gama Vinh Phuc.

Group E (in Binh Phuoc) has 5 teams including: Binh Phuoc, Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Tay Ninh, Phu Yen. Group F (in Ba Ria - Vung Tau) has 5 teams including: Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, Long An. Group G (in Tien Giang) has 5 teams including: Tien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Vinh Long and Can Tho.

The teams will compete in a round-robin format (home and away) in the host city to calculate the ranking points in each group. The 7 first-placed teams and the 4 second-placed teams with the best results in the 7 groups will advance to the Final Round along with the host team, who will be automatically qualified. In case the host team of the Final Round finishes the qualifying round with a position in the group of 11 teams with the best results in the 7 groups mentioned above, the second-placed team with the next best result will qualify for the Final Round.

According to the plan, the first leg of the qualifying round will take place from January 7 to January 17, 2024, and the second leg will take place from January 19 to January 29, 2024. The final round will be held from February 21 to March 5, 2024./.