U19 SLNA – U19 HAGL: Equally matched

The landlord shows off his power.

Entering this year’s tournament, both U19 SLNA and U19 HAGL were considered by experts and domestic football fans to be the two strongest candidates for the championship title. However, coach Graechen and his team did not perform as well as expected, forcing them to face U19 SLNA in the semi-finals.

As the host team, U19 HAGL was chosen as the seed of Group A. After the draw, the Pleiku home team was placed with U19 SHB Da Nang, U19 Viettel and U19 An Giang to compete for 2 tickets to the round of 4 strongest teams. In the opening match, coach Graechen and his team defeated U19 Viettel with a score of 1-0.

Unfortunately, in the next match, U19 HAGL was defeated by U19 SHB Da Nang with a score of 2-1. In the final match of Group A, while U19 SHB Da Nang held U19 Viettel to a 1-1 draw, U19 HAGL won 2-1 against U19 An Giang and thereby secured the second ticket to officially enter the knockout round.

The core of U19 HAGL are players from the 4th course of HAGL Academy – JMG. Photo: thanhnien.vn

Despite not having a smooth group stage, U19 HAGL is still a formidable opponent. Mr. Duc himself once praised Coach Graechen's students: "According to the JMG evaluation report, the 4th batch is extremely special. This batch has many players better than Cong Phuong."

In the hands of the French strategist are a series of talented faces such as Le Huu Phuoc, Tran Gia Huy, Nguyen Thai Quoc Cuong, Nguyen Duy Tam, Phan Nhat Thanh Long... These are the faces that Mr. Duc and the media consider to be more excellent than the generation of Nguyen Cong Phuong, Luong Xuan Truong, Nguyen Tuan Anh... (course 1).

No ordinary customer

On the other side of the front line, U19 SLNA is also not an ordinary opponent. The achievements of coach Nguyen Van Tien and his team in the group stage are very commendable. In the opening match, Ho Khac Luong and his teammates defeated U19 B.Binh Duong with a score of 2-1. A rather impressive start for the young team from Nghe An.

In the second match, U19 SLNA shared points with U19 Hanoi (1-1 draw), after taking the lead quite early (Pham Duc Manh opened the score in the 2nd minute). The 2-0 victory over U19 Phu Yen in the final match helped U19 SLNA take the top spot in Group B. Coach Nguyen Van Tien and his team entered the semi-finals with an unbeaten record, scoring 5 goals and conceding 2.

The quality of the current U19 SLNA players is quite good. Photo: Document

Coming to this tournament, U19 SLNA is expected by Nghe An football fans to successfully end the title drought that has lasted since 2006. Objectively, U19 SLNA possesses important factors to become the champion of the 2019 National U19 Finals.

On the coaching bench is coach Nguyen Van Tien, a talented and experienced coach, especially in youth tournaments. Under the command of Mr. Tien “Luc” are quality young players, typically Nguyen Van Bach, Ho Khac Luong, Dinh Xuan Tien, Nguyen Van Ba, Tran Manh Quynh, Tran Quoc Thanh…

It seems that, apart from the advantage of playing at home in Pleiku, U19 HAGL is not better than U19 SLNA in other factors. Therefore, the competition between the two teams this afternoon promises to be extremely fierce and attractive. Victory will only be for the team that knows how to promote its strength and limit its shortcomings./.