U14 Song Lam Nghe An: Continuing the dream of winning the championship.

(Baonghean) - While the first team players are giving their all in the V-League, and the senior U17 players are excelling in the Thai Son Nam Cup, the SLNA U14 players are also embarking on an adventure with their dream of winning the championship at the Milo Cup National Phu Dong Sports Festival Finals in Binh Duong.

This tournament is part of the National Sports Festival system of the Education sector for U15 football teams. After successfully advancing through the Northern regional qualifiers, SLNA players confidently entered the finals in Binh Duong against strong opponents in Group D, including PVF, An Giang, and Binh Dinh. Among them, PVF players were the top contender for the championship this year. In their opening match, SLNA drew dramatically with PVF 2-2. On July 6th, the team from Nghe An faced An Giang from the Mekong Delta. Throughout the match, SLNA played a one-sided game, with the ball mostly in An Giang's half. Determined to secure all three points, coach Le Van Hung instructed his players to play aggressively and relentlessly, creating numerous scoring opportunities against An Giang. The match ended with a 3-0 victory for the team from Nghe An. The An Giang players were convincingly defeated by SLNA. Meanwhile, the Nghe An players demonstrated their class with a diverse playing style, subtle passing, and the ability to control the game. With this victory, U14 SLNA now has 4 points, level with Binh Dinh. In the next match, SLNA has the power to decide their own fate when they face Binh Dinh. A draw against them would secure SLNA's place in the next round, and the top contender for the championship, VPF, would be eliminated, as VPF had previously lost 1-2 to Binh Dinh. The match against Binh Dinh will take place today (July 7th). Coach Le Van Hung affirmed that this will be a difficult match because Binh Dinh is a strong team with good physical fitness and technical skills, and they have proven their superiority through their victory against VPF.

An attack by an SLNA player (center) during the match against An Giang.

Although the SLNA players are young, the Nghe An team is full of potential, having played and trained together for a long time at the SLNA academy. Notably, this same squad won the National U13 Yamaha Cup last year, representing Vietnam in a tournament in Japan. While both Coach Nguyen Hong Thanh and Coach Le Van Hung have stated their goal in this tournament is to gain experience and learn in order to pursue their ambition of winning the U15 championship next year, the young SLNA players, led by captain Cong Thuan and with explosive players like Tran Quoc Thanh, will certainly not stop at that goal. They all show high determination to overcome the group stage and compete for the top spot in this year's tournament.

A positive sign is that all the U14 players participating in this tournament are young children who were discovered at the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament 2-3 years ago. After being selected, these young players from districts, towns, and cities in the province have gradually matured, signed professional training contracts with the SLNA academy, and brought glory to the province by winning the championship in 2014. Hopefully, in this year's Milo Cup Finals, the young SLNA players will continue to make history, writing another chapter in their championship dream to affirm the strength and tradition of the SLNA training academy.

Nguyen Khoa