Round 15 V-League 2016: Will SLNA play for the fans?

(Baonghean.vn) -Surely Vietnamese football fans will be very surprised that even in the "football party" EURO 2016, there will still be about 8,000 Nghe An fans coming to Thong Nhat Stadium to cheer for SLNA.

Good luck

While SLNA had just poured a “rain of goals” with 4 unanswered goals on the visiting team Than Quang Ninh in 45 minutes in the second half, Saigon FC did the unthinkable. In the last 7 minutes of the match at Tam Ky Stadium, Saigon FC scored 3 consecutive goals to tie the score 3-3, earning a valuable point. A match in which after referee Ngo Manh Cuong blew the whistle to end the match, QNK.Quang Nam captain Dinh Thanh Trung angrily threw his captain’s armband on the field and coach Hoang Van Phuc asked the security agency to intervene to determine the nature of the goals conceded.

Saigon FC just had a lucky draw against QNK Quang Nam...

If at Vinh Stadium, SLNA had an extremely good match in which names like Phi Son, Tuan Tai and Ngoc Hai were highly praised, then Saigon FC was considered lucky to have escaped the 5th loss of the season. After 14 rounds, Saigon is truly the "dark horse" of the tournament, playing quite erratically. They could win against strong teams SHB.DN 3-0, FLC Thanh Hoa 3-1 but drew with QNK.Quang Nam 0-0, lost to SXKT.Can Tho 0-1.

This time, the good team will meet the lucky team.

Football Festival

If we saw the opening match of V-League 2016 with a 0-5 defeat to HAGL right at home, few people would have expected that the rookie Saigon FC is ranked above SLNA. With a squad that does not have many stars except Ngoc Duy and Duy Long from HN.T&T, Saigon FC still made the host SLNA extremely hard to get a 1-0 victory before they left the capital to "move home" to Ho Chi Minh City. There was even a time when Mr. Dong's team climbed to second place in the rankings and Trinh Duy Long with 6 goals was ranked second in the list of domestic scorers.

...while SLNA just had an impressive victory against Than Quang Ninh.

Regarding organizational work, Saigon Football Development Joint Stock Company, after moving from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, decided to increase its charter capital from 25 billion VND to 100 billion VND and operate under the model of a public joint stock company. Accordingly, of the 100 billion VND capital, 70-75% will belong to major shareholders, the remaining 25-30% will be sold to the public widely. A new way of doing things that the Vietnamese football community is monitoring for its effectiveness.

For Nghe An fans, there was suddenly an opportunity to "meet each other on the weekend" because the Hanoi FC moved to Ho Chi Minh City to start a business. For Nghe An people who are working and living in the South, every time SLNA marches here to compete is a festival. In addition to coming to the stadium to cheer, this is also an opportunity for Nghe An compatriots to meet and exchange. The fan club bought new drums and trumpets and called on about 8,000 brothers and sisters to parade before the match and be present at Thong Nhat Stadium to cheer for their favorite team. According to Mr. Tran Song Hai, Chairman of the Saigon FC Fan Club, "It is expected that the number of SLNA fans will be equal to, or even more than, the home team, but everyone will join hands to cheer for a match that promises to be fair and beautiful."

In terms of expertise, this will be a fairly balanced match in terms of force. Notably, the Saigon team includes striker Jean-Eudes Maurice, a Haitian who just participated in Copa America 2016. The striker of Saigon FC has scored 2 goals in 14 official appearances in V.League 2016. Most notably, Truong Cong Thao, a player from SLNA, has also scored 3 goals for Saigon FC, ranking 2nd on the list of scorers for the home team.

For SLNA, the professional goal at this time is clearly to “train the troops” and in fact, young players Tuan Tai and Phi Son just had a commendable match. Most likely, like Xuan Thang, who played quite impressively in the second leg last year, young player Tuan Tai will be given more playing time by SLNA’s coaching staff. In addition, players Thanh Phong, Xuan Manh… are also eager to prove themselves. And more than ever, SLNA’s coaching staff and players need to play to show their gratitude to the Nghe An fans who took the trouble to come to Thong Nhat Stadium to cheer them on.

Phan Hao