Vietnam national football champs to battle foreign teams

The winner of this summer”s Thanh Nien-sponsored Vietnam U21 Football National Championship will then play three foreign national teams in a tournament this fall.

The 11^th national championship will kick off in July hosting 38 domestic teams competing for VND150 million (US$10,000) and the opportunity to play teams from Thailand, Singapore, and either Japan or Australia, in Nha Trang in October.

The qualifying rounds of the Vietnamese national championship will run from July 2 to 20. The defending champion Tien Giang and the host Khanh Hoa will receive free passes to the finals beginning on October 3 in Nha Trang”s August 19 stadium.

Teams attending the qualifiers are geographically divided in six groups and the competitions are held in six venues nationwide.

Single round-robin format will be applied in the qualifiers and only the top leader in each group will secure a spot to the finals.

The event offers total prizes worth VND400 million (US$25,000) of which the champion will receive VND150 million.

Three days after the end of the domestic competition round, the champion to be strengthened with leading players from the other teams will battle U21 Thailand, U21 Singapore, and U20 Japan (or Australia) from October 16 to 20.

38 teams in six groups:

Group A: Nam Dinh, Hoa Phat Hanoi, Quang Ninh Coal, The Cong, and Hai Phong

Group B: Song Lam Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Hanoi ACB, Fourth Military Zone, T&T Hanoi, VST

Group C: Hue, Da Nang, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Fifth Military Zone, Quang Nam

Group D: Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Binh Thuan, Lam Dong, Daklak, Saigon Port

Group E: Binh Duong, Dong Tam Long An, Saigon Fine Art Stones, Seventh Military Zone, Tay Ninh, Thanh Long, HCMC Training School

Group F: An Giang, Dong Thap, Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Can Tho, Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, Ben Tre.