National U21 Finals: SLNA falls into the "group of death"

Group of Death

The draw results SLNA is in group B, which is considered the "group of death" including Long An, SLNA, Viettel, HAGL (group B), with 3 strong candidates for the championship. Viettel, HAGL are the 2 teams present in the final match of the U21 finals last year, while SLNA is a team with a tradition of holding the record of 5 championships of the national U21 finals. The host Hue is in the same group with Hanoi, B.BD, Dak Lak (group A) which is considered to have an easier burden.

The reigning champion U21 HAGL brings to the National U21 Finals a squad of quality players who have just participated in V.League 2018. Of course, therefore, U21 HAGL does not hesitate to set the goal of successfully defending the championship.

The U21 HAGL team has veteran players such as A San, Trieu Viet Hung, Dinh Thanh Binh, Thanh Hau who have fought in V.League 2018.There are also U19 Vietnam players including Le Minh Binh, Tran Bao Toan, Huynh Tien Dat, Dung Quang Nho, Nguyen Canh Anh, Nguyen Duy Kien, Nguyen Van Van, Duong Van Loi, Vo Hoang Uy, Cao Hoang Tu, Phan Du Hoc.

"My goal and my students' is to successfully defend the 2018 National U21 Championship," Coach Nguyen Quoc Tuan shared before the match.

U21 SLNA won 5 gold cups at the finals of the U21 Newspaper TN tournament. Photo: Organizing Committee

The U21 Viettel squad participating in the National U21 tournament includes many players who have just won promotion to V.League 2019 with the Viettel first team. Typical names are Trong Dai, Hoang Duc, Nguyen Duc Hoang Minh, Tran Hoang Son. In addition, some faces who have just joined the U19 Vietnam team to participate in the Asian U19 tournament such as Truong Tien Anh, Nham Manh Dung, Tran Danh Trung, Nguyen Huu Thang are also present.

With such a strong force, Viettel is considered capable enough to compete for one of the highest positions in this year's tournament. Leading U21 Viettel in this tournament is coach Nguyen Minh Tien, who just won the National U17 Championship with U17 Viettel in July.

Dark horse of the tournament

The main squad of U21 Long An that competed in the first division football tournament included names such as Doan Hai Quan, Ha Vu Em, Chau Van Phi, Pham Quoc Ca, Nguyen Khac Vu, Cu Nguyen Khanh, Vo Hieu Dan, Le Hong Son... They were the team that scored the most goals in the qualifying round with 14 goals, more than Hanoi and Viettel. The attack of U21 Long An is considered a challenge for the remaining 3 teams in the group because of the diversity in scoring options. If they can overcome their lack of experience and control the rhythm of the match, Coach Kim Hung's students will be formidable opponents.

U21 B. Binh Duong (blue shirt) has many players currently playing in V.League 2018. Photo: BTC

U21 SLNA came to Hue with the pillars Nguyen Ba Duc, Nguyen Van Duc, Nguyen Van Viet, Duong Van Cuong... who were outstanding players at the National U19 Finals and had tried their hand at the U21 playground for a few years. This time, due to many reasons, SLNA had to "age handicap", in addition to Tran Dinh Bao, Pham Duc Thong, Nguyen Van Ngoc, Lam Quy, who were 21 years old, the players were all younger than the regulation, even one player was 17 years old. However, experts said that the Nghe An players were the "dark horses" of this tournament because the young players had very basic technical and tactical foundations.

There is no small pressure on coach Nguyen Van Tien and his team because this season, up to now, all the big and small teams of SLNA have won medals. Now is the time, what must U21 SLNA do to close the "bumper" season?

U21 SLNA MATCH SCHEDULE AT 2018 NATIONAL U21 FINAL
15:30, November 8: Song Lam Nghe An - Long An
18:00, November 10: Song Lam Nghe An - Viettel
15:00, November 12: Song Lam Nghe An - HAGL
Semi-finals November 14-15, Finals November 17

Official list of U21 SLNA participating in the 2018 National U21 Finals

(Baonghean.vn) - The National U21 Finals will take place from November 7 to November 17, 2018 at Tu Do Stadium, Hue City, Thua Thien Hue Province. In this tournament, SLNA holds the record for the number of championships in the years: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012 and 2014.