U21 Song Lam Nghe An is put in a difficult position.
Having only secured one point against U21 Dong A Thanh Hoa, U21 Song Lam Nghe An cannot determine their own fate in the race to qualify for this year's U21 National Championship finals.
We must beat U21 Hue.
With 4 points after 3 matches, U21 Song Lam Nghe An must win against U21 Hue, and even win convincingly, to keep their hopes of reaching the finals alive. This is because only the best third-placed team from the 5 groups will qualify for this year's finals.
However, winning against U21 Hue is no easy feat, as they made U21 PVF and U21 Dong A Thanh Hoa struggle to secure three points. Therefore, coach Nguyen Van Vinh's team must put in their best effort to win their final qualifying match.
Even if they win against U21 Hue, the Nghe An team still cannot determine their own fate. This is because U21 Song Lam Nghe An can only be guaranteed to finish above the third-placed teams in Group A and Group E, while they need favorable results to overtake the two third-placed teams in Group C and Group D.
Group C is unpredictable.
In Group C, the match is between U21 LPBank Hoang Anh Gia Lai and U21 Quang Nam (U21 SHB Da Nang is almost certain to win against U21 Dak Lak to secure a place in the final round). The most favorable outcome for the Nghe An team is for U21 Quang Nam to win, thus leaving the team owned by Mr. Duc with only 6 points in total.
However, U21 LPBank Hoang Anh Gia Lai is not an easy team to beat. If they manage a draw, they will have 7 points and a goal difference of +11, thus putting U21 Song Lam Nghe An in danger.
If the team from Pleiku wins, it will make things easier for Coach Nguyen Van Vinh's team, as the team in third place is U21 Quang Nam with 7 points and a goal difference of only +2.
Group D: All four teams still have a chance.
In Group D, all four teams – U21 Long An, U21 Dong Thap, U21 Tien Giang, and U21 Ho Chi Minh City – have a chance to qualify for this year's finals. Therefore, the teams will compete with great determination to win, and this is an advantage for U21 Song Lam Nghe An.
The best-case scenario for the Nghe An team is that U21 Long An or U21 Tien Giang finish in third place. In that case, the goal difference of these third-placed teams would not be too large, and U21 Song Lam Nghe An could easily overtake them.
However, if U21 Dong Thap or U21 Ho Chi Minh City finish third overall, it will be very difficult for U21 Song Lam Nghe An. This is because both of these youth teams have very good goal differences (+9 and +5).
Therefore, in addition to the mandatory task of winning against U21 Hue, U21 Song Lam Nghe An must also hope for favorable results in groups C and D to know whether they will qualify for the final round.
Hopefully, coach Nguyen Van Vinh and his team will have good luck in the final match, thereby securing a ticket to the final round of this year's tournament.
