Van Tam Dong Nai enters the final of the National U9 Football Championship - Toyota Cup 2025 for the first time

U.9 Van Tam Dong Nai won 2-1 against U.9 Song Lam Nghe An in the semi-finals, thereby winning the ticket to play for the first time ever in the final match of the National U9 Football Championship - Toyota Cup 2025 held in Tay Ninh.

U.9 Van Tam Dong Nai players share the victory with fans in the stands. Screenshot

On the afternoon of August 23, at Tay Ninh Provincial Gymnasium, the National U9 Football Championship - Toyota Cup 2025 continued with two semi-final matches, including Hanoi Club vs. Viet Hung Thanh Hoa and Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) vs. Van Tam Dong Nai (VTDN).

U.9 Van Tam Dong Nai (in green shirts) defeats U.9 Song Lam Nghe An 2-1 to enter the final for the first time. Source: Club Facebook

In the second semi-final, U.9 SLNA took the initiative and launched a series of attacks against U.9 VTDN. However, the young players of VTDN remained calm and gradually neutralized the opponent's attacks. Not only did they keep a clean sheet, VTDN also scored the opening goal in the 9th minute. From a counter-attack, Le Ngoc Luan dribbled the ball powerfully on the right wing, then delivered a precise cross for Trinh Thai Tuan to smash the ball into the net, opening the scoring for his team. Despite facing continuous pressure from the opponent’s attacks afterwards, VTDN maintained its lead until the end of the first half."

Le Ngoc Luan celebrates after scoring to raise the score to 2-0 for U.9 Van Tam Dong Nai. Source: Club Facebook

In the second half, U.9 SLNA continued to attack VTĐN strongly in order to tie the game. While the young Nghe An players had not levelled the score yet, they conceded another goal. In the 25th minute, Le Ngoc Luan received the ball in an open position from Tu Thai Tuan, dribbled the ball vigorously before having to shoot twice to beat the SLNA goalkeeper, doubling the lead for VTĐN. The subsequent efforts of the young SLNA players only helped them narrow the gap to 1-2 from a beautiful free-kick goal by their captain at the 33rd minute, but could not turn the game around.

Captain of U.9 Song Lam Nghe An scores a consolation goal for his team. Source: Club Facebook

With a 2-1 victory over SLNA, VTĐN won the right to play in the final match. This is the first-ever final match for the team from Southeastern region.

In the semi-final match that ended earlier, U.9 Viet Hung Thanh Hoa won convincingly 3-0 against U.9 Hanoi club.

Thus, the final of the National U.9 Football Championship - Toyota Cup 2025 will be a showdown between two U.9 teams: Viet Hung Thanh Hoa and Van Tam Dong Nai, both making their debut in the final match of the tournament. The final will take place on the afternoon of August 25.

By: Anh Tam
Translated by: Quoc Dung - Thu Ha