"WISHES WILL COME TRUE"
Smiling brightly after the draw for the Ho Chi Minh City play-off round yesterday, January 19, Dr. Pham Thai Vinh, head coach of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Physical Education and Sports (UPES), said jokingly: "We got what we wished for." Mr. Vinh explained: "Honestly, I hope to meet Ton Duc Thang University, because if we lose, we still have a chance (if Ton Duc Thang University wins, the losing teams of the 4 play-off matches will play 3 more matches to find a place in the final round). Moreover, I want the players to play with a fiery atmosphere in front of thousands of home fans." As a result, the UPES team will meet the host Ton Duc Thang University at 5:15 p.m. today (January 20).
Ho Chi Minh City play-off round draw ceremony yesterday, January 19
However, coach Pham Thai Vinh still instilled the spirit of "must win" in his students: "Although UPES has scored many goals recently, I still ask the players to keep their feet on the ground. Ton Duc Thang University is a strong team, with expertise and an audience, so to defeat them, our players must be more determined, more united, and more thirsty."
The match between Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCM City National University) and Van Lang University (3 p.m. on January 20) also promises to be an eye-catching duel because both teams have an attacking style of play. Coach Nguyen Vo Hoang Phu of Van Lang University pointed out the strengths of the opponent: "HCM City University of Technology is an organized team, led by a professional coach, has a field, a training plan and good individuals."
Meanwhile, coach Nguyen Van Tuan of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology said that when reaching this round, all teams are equally matched. The determination of each team is to maintain the best spirit and form for the players, waiting for the day of competition, to win a ticket to the final round.
ATTRACTIVE "THU DUC CITY DERBY"
Coach Phan Hoang Vu (Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry) feels excited that on January 21, he will face Coach Tran Manh Hung (Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education) in the "Thu Duc City derby". Mr. Vu said that the two teams often play friendly matches and are quite familiar with each other's playing style, so the team that takes advantage of the opportunity better will win.
Coach Pham Thai Vinh
Mr. Vu shared: "Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education is one of the strong teams with technical and skillful playing style, with outstanding individuals who can solve the match like striker Trieu Hong Chinh". Coach Tran Manh Hung also shared that he felt regretful when having to meet the "neighboring" team too soon when last year, both teams were able to participate in the final round. Mr. Hung commented: "Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry is a strong team with a long history of achievements. However, we have prepared carefully for the play-off round, no matter which team we meet, we must be determined to play our best to win a ticket to the final round".
Losing is also beautiful
Speaking after the draw for the play-off round of the Ho Chi Minh City region, journalist Hai Thanh, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Thanh Nien Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee, congratulated the 8 strongest teams of the Ho Chi Minh City region, who, with their strength, had won a well-deserved place in the play-off round. At the same time, journalist Hai Thanh sent his thanks to the 21 teams in the Ho Chi Minh City region who did not have the opportunity, although all of them played with great effort until the last minute, but due to a lack of luck, or because the other team was too strong, they could not continue.
MATCH SCHEDULE
"The draw for the four play-off matches has created four interesting and extremely tense confrontations. Therefore, I hope that the teams, although entering the match with an uncompromising spirit, will continue to demonstrate the spirit of fair play - fair victory - fair cheering that has become the identity of the tournament. But not only winning beautifully, I hope that the teams, even if they lose, will also lose beautifully. Losing without anyone being able to criticize them because they played their best. I also ask the supervisors and referees to continue to perform their duties with fairness, integrity, and focus on every move on the field to absolutely reduce controversial situations," said journalist Hai Thanh.
WANT TO FINISH THE MATCH IN 80 MINUTES
Sharing with Thanh Nien before the play-off round, the coaches all said they wanted to settle the match in 80 minutes and not want to shoot penalties. Coach Pham Thai Vinh affirmed: "We are determined to play offensively, entering the game from the beginning. We certainly will not play a tug-of-war and then wait for a penalty shootout." Coach Nguyen Van Tuan of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology also agreed with this point of view.
The teams draw lots
Meanwhile, coach Nguyen Vo Hoang Phu said that Van Lang University team has prepared for all situations, even if they have to take a penalty shootout. Coach Phan Hoang Vu of Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry said: "If we have to go to a penalty shootout, Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry team is also very confident. In fact, we are very good at penalty shootouts. However, facing this nerve-wracking match, nothing can be predicted. We will instill confidence in the players."
The play-off round of the TNSV THACO Cup 2024 will see the appearance of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education team for the first time. At the draw ceremony, player Le Trung Nghia, a fourth-year student, representing the team, shared that this will be the most memorable match of his student life. "In the past 3 years, we have not been able to reach the final round of any tournament, so the whole team is facing a great opportunity. When entering the match, the players on the field are the main factor. We will play our best to give the audience a good match," Trung Nghia affirmed. The opponent of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education team is Van Hien University, whose head coach Nguyen Anh Tong used to lead the Dong Thap team to play professionally and assistant Nguyen Van Ngan is the former captain of Dong Thap Club.
Impressive numbers
The qualifying round in Ho Chi Minh City was exciting with 151 goals scored in 39 matches (nearly 4 goals/match). Almost every match created an exciting atmosphere. Many schools had large fan teams such as Ton Duc Thang University, People's Police University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry, etc.
Not only that, the number of views and interactions of videos about the tournament on digital platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok is very high. On average, each match broadcast live on YouTube Thanh Nien Newspaper has about 10,000 views. The Thanh Nien Sports TikTok channel, after nearly 1 month of launching, has nearly 7,000 followers, more than 8 million views, and an average of more than 110,000 views per video. In total, for both seasons of the Vietnam Youth Student Football Tournament, videos related to the tournament have so far received more than 30 million views on TikTok.
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