The 2021 National U-19 Football Championship will resume after being suspended because of the COVID-19 situation. Accordingly, the championship's final round takes place in Binh Duong Province from March 30 to April 15. Khanh Hoa U-19 is among 12 teams qualifying for the finals.
The 2021 National U-19 Football Championship will resume after being suspended because of the COVID-19 situation. Accordingly, the championship’s final round takes place in Binh Duong Province from March 30 to April 15. Khanh Hoa U-19 is among 12 teams qualifying for the finals.
Due to COVID-19, the 2021 National U-19 Football Championship had to be postponed just before the last fixtures of the qualifying round with many qualifiers still undecided. The organization committee had considered two feasible options for the resumption of the tournament. Accordingly, all the teams would play their last qualifying match to decide the 12 finalists, or the teams’ results after nine qualifying matches would be counted to decide their positions and qualification for the final round.
Based on the most approved option, Vietnam Football Federation decided to use the team’s results of the played qualifying matches to decide 12 teams for the final round. Specifically, the two qualifiers of Group A are defending champions PVF and Hanoi, who have had the same points of 20 after nine matches. Group B has Song Lam Nghe An and Nutifood Academy; Group C includes Quang Nam, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Binh Dinh (Binh Dinh is one of the two best third teams); Group D has Becamex Binh Duong, Saigon, Khanh Hoa (Khanh Hoa is one of the two best third teams); Group E includes Dong Thap and An Giang. In the final round, 12 teams are divided into three groups, playing in a round-robin format to decide the first and second teams of each group and the best third team for the quarterfinals.
|
The tournament’s press conference and draw is organized on March 29. This is the first time a final round of the national U-19 championship has featured 12 teams. The finals promise to be exciting because the young players are likely to show their best to be called up to the national U-19 team.
Khanh Hoa U-19’s qualification for the final round as one of the best second teams wasn’t really based on luck. After nine matches of the qualifying round, they had three wins, three draws, and one loss; were equal in points (12) with Saigon and two points fewer than first-placed Becamex Binh Duong. They still had a chance for a slot in the finals if they could defeat Dong Nai whom they beat 3-1 in their latest qualifying clash. Therefore, Khanh Hoa players were confident that they could overcome Dong Nai to qualify as one of the best two of Group D.
Reportedly, Khanh Hoa players are practicing actively and are ready for the upcoming final round. Khanh Hoa has qualified for the final rounds of the national U-19 championships for at least four times. Their best result was the championship in 2013. Many young players, who helped Khanh Hoa U-19 win that year’s trophy, are now playing in the country’s professional tournaments. Hopefully, the current young players of Khanh Hoa can have a successful tournament to partly help Khanh Hoa’s football return to professional playground.
An Nhien
Translated by H.N
