U19 Song Lam Nghe An shared points in the opening match of the National U19 finals.

After conceding the goal, U19 Song Lam Nghe An played with great effort to find an equalizer and they got what they needed. Photo: Chung Le

Step into the 2023 National U19 Finals,U19 Song Lam Nghe Anis in group C with the teams U19 Dong Thap, U19 Binh Duong and U19 Thanh Hoa.

In the opening match (April 23), U19 Song Lam Nghe An will face U19 Thanh Hoa. This is predicted to be a difficult match for coach Nguyen Van Vinh and his team. Because the neighboring team from Thanh Hoa has many quality players in the squad. These include: Minh Duc, Ngoc My, Thanh Nam... Therefore, in order to achieve positive results, the team from Nghe An needs to be cautious, otherwise they will have to pay the price against Thanh Hoa's pragmatic playing style.

Before this match, in group C, U19 Dong Thap defeated U19 Binh Duong with a minimum score of 1-0. Therefore, whichever team gets a good result in this match will have a big advantage in the race to the quarter-finals.

It was quite disadvantageous for U19 Song Lam Nghe An when goalkeeper Cao Van Binh could not participate, because he was focusing with U22 Vietnam to prepare for Sea Games 32. The replacement was goalkeeper Huu Hau.

Considered to be a fairly balanced match, both teams entered the match cautiously, so the speed of the match was not pushed too high. U19 Thanh Hoa chose a defensive counter-attack strategy, with fierce pressure, to limit the ability to coordinate small, flexible movements of Song Lam Nghe An. It was this way of playing of the opponent that made it impossible for coach Nguyen Van Vinh's students to launch attacks as desired.

Not only that, in the 25th minute, U19 Song Lam Nghe An also received a cold shower. From Ngoc My's shot in the middle, the ball went strong and dangerously, forcing goalkeeper Huu Hau to push the ball out, Minh Duc was there in time to open the score for U19 Thanh Hoa.

After conceding the goal, U19 Song Lam Nghe An was instructed to push up to find an equalizer, but under the alert command of central defender Truong Thanh Nam, the Nghe An players could not cause any trouble for Anh Tuan's goal.

It was not until the 40th minute that U19 Song Lam Nghe An had their first chance of the match. After a series of coordinated situations in the middle, the ball was passed down to Duy Hao by his teammates. With a distance of more than 10m, this striker could not defeat the opponent's defender, missing the opportunity to equalize the score for Song Lam Nghe An.

U19 Thanh Hoa played fiercely without fear of collision to preserve the victory but was unsuccessful. Photo: Chung Le

Entering the second half, coach Nguyen Van Vinh asked his players to speed up the pace, pushing up the formation to find an equalizer. And it only took more than 5 minutes for Song Lam Nghe An to have the opportunity to restore balance. The situation started after a series of smooth coordination between Nghe An strikers, the ball was passed to Ngo Van Bac from a distance of more than 20m, the captain of U19 Song Lam Nghe An fired a powerful shot, but Anh Tuan played excellently to block it.

6 minutes later, Van Quy received a precise pass from his teammate, but in a face-to-face situation with the goalkeeper, the striker wearing shirt number 30 headed the ball wide of the post.

In the second half, U19 Thanh Hoa retreated almost the entire team to defend and only put Ba Thanh up front. However, U19 Song Lam Nghe An still created a variety of attacks, but unfortunately the strikers up front did not convert the opportunities into goals.

After a series of attacks on the opponent's goal, in the 80th minute, U19 Song Lam Nghe An restored the balance of the match. From Mai Hoang's pass, the ball went beyond the control of Thanh Hoa's central defender, Quoc Hoa rushed down bravely, headed the ball into Anh Tuan's net.

In the final minutes, U19 Song Lam Nghe An continued to push up their formation, pressuring their opponents, but Quoc Hoa and Van Quy's shots did not have the necessary accuracy, so the score of 1-1 remained until the end of the match.

On April 25, U19 Song Lam Nghe An will have the second match in group C against U19 Binh Duong./.