Round 13 V-League: Than Quang Ninh - SLNA: Repeat the 2014 achievement?

(Baonghean) - This weekend (June 28), the V-League ball will continue to roll across the country after more than 2 months of break for national teams to focus on training and competing. In this 13th round, SLNA will have a difficult trip to Cam Pha Stadium of Than Quang Ninh. At the present time, in terms of the balance of power, the home team is clearly rated higher, but it is certainly not easy for SLNA to let the mining team keep 3 points...

Last season, Than Quang Ninh, although a rookie in V-League, with abundant financial resources, added many high-quality players to the squad, and played at home, so coach Dinh Cao Nghia and his team really wanted to have their first victory for the fans of the mining land. Meanwhile, SLNA entered the season with countless difficulties. 3 days before the start of V-League 2014, Minh Duc suffered a thigh injury; midfielder Hoang Thinh was red-carded in the last round of V-League 2013 so he could not play this match; the foreign striker pair Emile - Ndjodo were hastily signed so not much could be expected. However, coach Nguyen Huu Thang and his team still proved the mettle of a "big guy" in the V-League. And when the whistle blew to end the 90 minutes at Cam Pha Stadium, SLNA leisurely left with 3 points in hand.

Nhu Thuat (far right) and teammates celebrate a goal at Cam Pha Stadium in the 2014 season.

Entering this season, while SLNA was facing financial difficulties, along with the departure of extremely important factors, including striker Captain Le Cong Vinh and especially the decision to part ways with coach Nguyen Huu Thang. It seemed that such a huge loss would cause the young players to lose their direction. But no, just a little bit of deviation in the first rounds, SLNA regained the image of a traditional team on the V-League playground.

Young players such as Phi Son, Ngoc Hai, Manh Hung, Tuan Tai... under the skillful guidance of coach Ngo Quang Truong have combined smoothly and harmoniously with the players who have fought for many years in the highest level tournament in Vietnam to form a team full of strength and enthusiasm. After 12 rounds, the 3rd place with 21 points that Hoang Thinh and his teammates are holding is the dream of many highly rated teams when the new season begins. And this further proves that coach Ngo Quang Truong's team is maturing remarkably. Meanwhile, SLNA's opponent in the upcoming 13th round, Than Quang Ninh, with abundant financial potential, although this V-League 2015 is only the 2nd season they have participated in the highest level tournament at the club level, the mining team has quickly become a real force. Having 21 points like SLNA and not losing any match at Cam Pha Stadium is proof of the strength of coach Dinh Cao Nghia's team.

Before the 13th round, SLNA and Than Quang Ninh both had a relatively difficult time, that is, in rounds 11 and 12, both teams lost regrettable points. In round 11, SLNA, despite playing at home, still could not beat the weak team Can Tho. In the next round, SLNA disappointed when losing with a score of 1-2 despite having the lead goal by Phi Son. Meanwhile, the mining team was not doing much better, because in the 2 matches against opponents like Khanh Hoa and Da Nang, they could only earn 1 point. Therefore, this 13th round is considered an opportunity for both teams to regain their image and whichever team wins will definitely boost their morale greatly in the upcoming acceleration period.

Returning to the situation of SLNA's forces in the upcoming away match at Cam Pha Stadium, after losing half of the main squad serving the national teams and more than half of them had to return to their clubs early due to injury. The cases of Nguyen Manh, Hoang Thinh, Tuan Tai, Phuc Tinh can be mentioned and this is a huge loss for coach Ngo Quang Truong. However, fortunately, the injured cases are all recovering quite quickly, in which Phuc Tinh has now reached 100% form, while Hoang Thinh and Tuan Tai are likely to be able to play in the next match, but goalkeeper Nguyen Manh still has to wait 2 more weeks to fully recover. So, the domestic players are considered stable, but what about the foreign players? In this second phase, the 2 foreign players from the beginning of the season of SLNA, Bosman and Abubakar, have both had their contracts terminated, instead, coach Ngo Quang Truong brought in 2 strikers, Baba Salia (Ivory Coast) and midfielder Abdul Haruna (Nigeria). With a great record and somewhat proving their worth, the two new African strikers are expected to improve SLNA's finishing in the remaining rounds of the V-League.

Thus, in the away match at Cam Pha Stadium on the afternoon of June 28, SLNA, although being assessed as weaker in terms of force, plus the great pressure from the stands. But with the youth, enthusiasm, and smooth team play of the players trained at Song Lam "furnace", along with the quality addition of 2 foreign players. SLNA fans still have the right to hope for the miracle that their team did 1 year ago. And if they can do this, SLNA's young players will be more confident on the path to conquering the V-League throne...

South Scene