U21 Song Lam Nghe An strives to overcome difficulties and regain glory
(Baonghean.vn) - U21 Song Lam Nghe An is facing many difficulties when entering the 2023 U21 Youth Football Tournament. However, the Nghe An team still has enough players to regain the glory of the past.
Facing many difficulties
Over the past 25 years of the National U21 Tournament, the public has often witnessed the chase for achievements between the two giants in Vietnamese youth football, Nghe An and Hanoi. Specifically, U21 Song Lam Nghe An has won the Championship 5 times; meanwhile, U21 Hanoi holds the record of 6 times crowned in this tournament. However, U21 Song Lam Nghe An's first championship in the National U21 Tournament was more than 10 years ago. Therefore, the Nghe An team really wants to regain the glory of the past.
However, on the eve of the 2023 National U21 Tournament, U21 Song Lam Nghe An is facing many difficulties. Among them, the major bottleneck that directly affects the strength of U21 Nghe An is the personnel issue.
One month before the tournament, U21 Song Lam Nghe An officially entered the peak training period. However, the number of players participating in the training sessions of U21 Nghe An was only about 15 people, because many players were loaned to other teams and were injured when they returned. In addition, some strikers were called up to the National youth teams, so they could not join U21 Song Lam Nghe An. Therefore, it caused many difficulties for the Nghe An team in deploying the formation and practicing tactics.
In addition, at U21 Song Lam Nghe An, there are currently 5 generations in the same squad. These include Long Vu, Trong Tuan (born in 2006); Mai Hoang, Quang Vinh (born in 2005); Ngo Van Bac, Phan Tien Thang, Ho Viet Manh, Nguyen Van Son, Phan Duy Hao, Le Van Quy (born in 2004); Phan Xuan Dai, Nguyen Van Bach, Tran Ngoc Dung, Tran Van Dat, Chu Van Tan (born in 2003); Phan Ba Quyen, Le Khanh Toan (born in 2002). This causes a big obstacle for the coaching staff of U21 Song Lam Nghe An in finding a link between the links in the same squad.
To overcome the above limitations, in addition to increasing the training time for the players, U21 Song Lam Nghe An needs to compete more. However, because this year the Nghe team is the home team, they do not have to compete in the qualifying round, so the players have almost no opportunities to play. That has greatly affected the ability to integrate between the lines and positions in the U21 Song Lam Nghe An squad.
Talking about the difficulties that the U21 team of Nghe An is facing, Mr. Tran Quang Dung - Deputy Director of the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center said: "To find cohesion, we must let the players compete a lot. However, at this time, we almost cannot find any suitable team for U21 Song Lam Nghe An to play friendly matches, because the U21 teams of famous youth training centers in the country are all busy competing in the qualifying round of the National U21 Tournament. Therefore, we can only invite the U21 Thanh Hoa team as the host team to play friendly matches. Before the new season, U21 Song Lam Nghe An has had a total of 3 encounters with the Thanh team. Through those matches, the players have more or less found a common voice. However, there are still many limitations that the U21 Song Lam Nghe An coaching board must overcome before entering the tournament."
Regaining the glory
The problems that U21 Song Lam Nghe An are facing pose many challenges to the coaching staff of this team. However, amidst the mounting difficulties, there are still rays of light that are worth hoping for.
From the past to the present, Song Lam Nghe An has always been considered a club with a tradition of youth training. It always produces potential strikers. In this year's season, although U21 Song Lam Nghe An does not have the services of talents Xuan Tien and Nam Hai because they are busy concentrating with the Vietnam Olympic Team, there are still many faces that can bring an explosion to this team. Among them, Xuan Dai and Van Bach have played in V.League 2023. With the experience gained from playing in a fierce football environment, these two names promise to be confident in creating a breakthrough in the playing style of U21 Nghe An.
In particular, it is likely that Ho Van Cuong and goalkeeper Cao Van Binh, who are playing for the Vietnam U23 Team, will be able to return to participate in the National U21 Tournament with U21 Song Lam Nghe An after finishing the Asian U23 qualifying round. If they have these two players, it will add depth to the Nghe An team's squad. In addition, strikers such as Van Bac, Quang Vinh, and Van Quy, although only 19 years old, have quickly affirmed their value when participating in the 2023 National U19 Tournament.
In addition, the initial assessment through the matches in the qualifying round shows that only U21 Hanoi and U21 Viettel are two formidable teams, the rest of the tournament only has not-so-excellent opponents. Therefore, the possibility of U21 Song Lam Nghe An reaching the final is not out of reach.
Share U21's goalsLam River Nghe AnIn this year's season, Mr. Nguyen Quang Dung - Deputy Director of Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center said: "With the difficulties that U21 Song Lam Nghe An is facing, we will not set too high a goal at the 2023 National U21 Tournament. However, I hope that with the efforts of the teachers and students, U21 Song Lam Nghe An will bring back high achievements, satisfying the expectations of Nghe An fans".
The final round of the 2023 National U21 Championship will be held in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, officially kicking off on September 18. U21 Song Lam Nghe An will be the host team of Group C./.
