V.League stops, many SLNA players are in trouble

The 2020 V.League National Championship, after finishing round 11, had to be postponed due to the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic. Currently, all football teams are in standby mode, hoping for the tournament to return. Accordingly, in the first plan, all professional football tournaments in Vietnam will start in the first week of September and end as planned on October 31.

Option two, the remaining First Division matches plus the matches of the 6 bottom teams in the first phase of V.League will all end on October 31. The top 8 teams will compete for the championship and it is expected to end in November.

Option 3: Play the remaining 2 rounds of V.League, National Cup Quarterfinals in September, after the Vietnam National Team finishes the World Cup qualifiers and the 2 Vietnamese representatives finish the AFC Cup (expected to end on November 24), then phase 2 of the season will last from November to December.

V.League 2020's return date is unknown. Photo: TK

Finally, if the epidemic is not controlled, the first two rounds of the V.League and National Cup will be held at an appropriate time of the year and the rest of the season will be stopped.

Sharing about SLNA's training situation, head coach Ngo Quang Truong said: "Currently, we are maintaining regular training as usual, 4 days a week with 2 shifts, always ready when V.League 2020 returns.

Regarding the injury situation, Van Khanh and Xuan Manh have returned to training according to the team's general training plan, leaving only defender Dinh Dong. We are hoping that all three players can compete in time when V.League returns, helping the team overcome this difficult period."

Bui Dinh Chau is one of the players receiving a salary of 6 million VND/month at SLNA. Photo: Xuan Thuy

The Nghe An team currently has 7-8 players who are playing in the V.League for the first time, receiving a salary of 6 million such as Bui Dinh Chau, Tran Dinh Tien... The income of SLNA players depends largely on bonuses, each winning match the whole team is rewarded from 150, 300 million or up to 500 million VND. Thus, each type A player (starting player) will have an additional 10-15 million in addition to the monthly salary.

When V.League 2020 was postponed, all players faced psychological and material difficulties, SLNA was no exception. Coach Quang Truong shared: "The average salary of domestic players is very low, only when the home team wins will there be income. V.League postponed, many young players are facing real difficulties but what can we do, we can only hold on and wait for the ball to roll again."

Regarding foreign players, Coach Quang Truong said: “We will most likely negotiate a new contract with Philippe Martins. At the moment, there is no new source of players and this is a mandatory option.

SLNA retains foreign player Martins for the remaining stage of V.League 2020. Photo: Hai Hoang

Before coming to SLNA on trial, he did not play for any team, so in the most recent match against Quang Ninh, Martins tried very hard but his performance was only at a certain level. He needs more time to integrate and find a common voice with his teammates."

After the first 11 rounds of V.League 2020, SLNA is facing many difficulties when it is ranked 11th with 12 points, having gone through 5 losses and 1 draw in the recent period. If the tournament returns, the Nghe An team is expected to recover strongly when there is more time for new foreign players to integrate and key players to compete again.

Recently, the VPF executive board announced that they will temporarily suspend the transfer registration period in the middle of the 2020 season as proposed by the VFF to ensure the rights of the teams. From August 7, Vietnamese teams will not be able to register players and must wait until the season returns. The VFF and VPF will issue instructions to each team in the coming time.

Coach Ngo Quang Truong and his fate with young SLNA players

(Baonghean.vn) – In the first 3 matches of V.League 2020 and the National Cup, Coach Ngo Quang Truong has begun to introduce new faces playing professionally for the first time. The two years leading SLNA in the past and present are proving this Coach's talent in polishing rough diamonds.