The player transfer market continues.

(Baonghean) - In early January 2016, Quang Truong and his team will travel to Thanh Hoa to participate in the FLC Cup friendly football tournament. Most teams see this as a great opportunity to select players and assemble their squad. SLNA is no exception. Coach Ngo Quang Truong stated that this is the final training session before finalizing the squad, both foreign and domestic players, for the new season.

After discussions and agreement, the host team Thanh Hoa finally finalized the list of participating teams and the schedule for the first FLC Cup friendly football tournament in 2016. Organized in a more professional and larger-scale manner than the training tournament in Vinh, the FLC Cup is essentially a "player market" as all teams see it as a great opportunity to strengthen their squads for the new season.

SLNA is actively training in preparation for the upcoming FLC Cup. Photo: Internet

On December 27th, the organizing committee of the FLC Cup friendly tournament officially announced the details of the football tournament organized by the corporation. According to the announcement, the tournament will take place from January 10th to 23rd, 2016, with the participation of six teams: HN.T&T, Hanoi FC, Than Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, SLNA, and the host team FLC Thanh Hoa.

Unlike the tournament in Vinh, the friendly tournament organized by FLC will award points and prizes to the winning teams. In addition, FLC, as the sponsor, will cover all travel, accommodation, and training expenses for the participating teams. Having only recently entered the world of football, FLC has shown great generosity, which has boosted the morale of the participating teams. Currently, besides training for the new season, FLC Thanh Hoa is also actively preparing the best possible conditions for the upcoming tournament, in which they are the host.

The main goal of participating in this tournament is for the teams to gain experience and, especially, to recruit players to complete their squads. After the training tournament in Vinh, the teams were still lacking in many areas, particularly in terms of personnel, so the extended tournament in Thanh Hoa continues to be an opportunity for them to refine the remaining "pieces" of the puzzle. Compared to the Vinh tournament, the upcoming FLC Cup will feature three new teams: HN.T&T, Hanoi FC, and Than Quang Ninh.

Besides domestic players, friendly tournaments like this are also an opportunity for teams to try out foreign players, a crucial step before finalizing the roster for the new season. After the FLC Cup friendly tournament, teams prepare for the Lunar New Year holiday and the start of the new season, so there are virtually no more opportunities for teams to make selections.

For SLNA specifically, the training tournament in Vinh helped them improve significantly in their preparation for the new season. Winning the championship was only part of the story; the main thing was that the tournament allowed many young players to mature remarkably. Players like Van Khanh, Phuc Tinh, Phuc Nguyen, and Van Duc, after scoring goals for SLNA and showing good form, became much more confident. Gaining experience and showcasing their abilities is what the Nghe An team aims for its players, and the recent training tournament in Vinh addressed many of these goals. Furthermore, through this tournament, SLNA also identified a quality Nigerian foreign player. The refusal to reveal the striker's identity and background shows that SLNA has already decided on him and doesn't want any other team to "disrupt" the deal or "steal" him.

After the training camp in Vinh, SLNA continued with exercises focused on physical fitness. The intense training was primarily aimed at helping the players maintain their stamina and ensure they could perform well for the full 90 minutes of a match. This is crucial because in recent seasons, SLNA players have often lacked physical fitness, only able to play well for about 60-70 minutes.

With no need to strengthen their squad with players from other teams, SLNA is participating in the FLC Cup with the goal of gaining more experience and trying out a few more foreign players before finalizing their roster for the new season.

VINH LIEM