Round 22 V.League: Waiting to see SLNA's attitude

(Baonghean.vn)-After a series of consecutive losses, this afternoon (August 22), Mr. Duc's HAGL team will host SLNA at home in Pleiku with the determination to get points to keep their hopes of staying in the league alive.

From a team that became famous right after the opening of V.League 2015, wherever HAGL went, there was a fear of the stadium being broken because the audience was curious to see young stars Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Van Toan... demonstrate the attractive playing style that they had shown in the U19 youth tournaments. But after only a few rounds, due to their lack of experience in the harsh V.League arena, Mr. Duc's young players lost their direction. They let other opponents torment them, earning points every time they met HAGL. Now, the mountain town team is facing a great risk of relegation when they are at the bottom of the rankings and 3 points behind the team above them while there are only 5 more rounds left to end the tournament.

In the first leg at Vinh Stadium, despite being in good form, HAGL was "turned off" against SLNA.

The match against SLNA this afternoon - a team that no longer has much motivation in the race for the top spot in the V.League - is an opportunity for the Pleiku home team to earn 3 points. HAGL's advantage is that this afternoon they will play at home, where since 2011, SLNA has not won a single match at Pleiku. In addition, the current SLNA head coach, Ngo Quang Truong, once played for the team from the mountain town, so he may be lenient with Mr. Duc's team in this situation.

But remember, also before, after a friendly match with SLNA, Mr. Duc announced a boycott of the SLNA training center because this team played too harshly. So who knows, not only will they not show mercy, but the young players from Nghe An will continue to teach Mr. Duc's young stars another lesson about the harshness of the V.League!

Nghe An fans hope that SLNA will not "do business" in Pleiku this afternoon.

If they win against SLNA this afternoon, the door to relegation will open for HAGL, but if the opposite happens, the gap to the First Division of the Mountain City team will be closer and closer. Although they have a relationship with Mr. Duc's team, it is likely that Coach Quang Truong does not want his team to be known as "doing business" in Pleiku, so he will also send his team to play with all their might.

HAGL will compete with SLNA to gain maximum points, keeping hope of staying in the league alive.

In the stands, Mr. Duc is probably the one with the most emotions in this match. HAGL and SLNA are the two teams that use the most young players in V.League, but now they are at two different extremes. SLNA is comfortably at the top of the rankings while his team's chance of staying in the league is very slim. That outcome partly comes from his mistake, the person who decided to disband the old team to use all young players, while SLNA has a succession of veterans and young players. Now, facing the team's dire situation, Mr. Duc has changed soldiers and generals in the hope of changing fortunes. To do so, at least in this afternoon's match, his team must get points against SLNA.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Nghe An fans will also travel to Pleiku to watch the battle between the young stars of both sides. They are also waiting to see how coach Quang Truong and his team will compete against the home team that is hungry for points!

Duc Dung