Organised by the Department of Culture and Sports, the 26^th edition of the Da Nang Children's Football Tournament in 2025 is taking place in an exciting and attractive atmosphere at the Tien Son Sports Arena. This is the first municipal-level tournament to be held in 2025.

The Da Nang Children's Football Tournament provides a meaningful playground for pupils to meet, exchange and improve their skills. Photo: PHI NONG

After the success of previous seasons, this year’s tournament sees the participation of 7 teams representing districts: Cam Le, Lien Chieu, Thanh Khe, Hai Chau, Son Tra, Ngu Hanh Son and Hoa Vang.

The teams are divided into 2 groups to compete in a round-robin, with the top 2 teams from each group competing in the semi-finals. The two winning teams in the semi-finals will compete for the championship, and the two losing teams compete for third place. In recent days, the matches of the tournament have been exciting and attractive.

In group A, Ngu Hanh Son and Hai Chau teams showed high performance, winning 2 tickets to the semi-finals. Ngu Hanh Son beat Hai Chau 3-1 in the opening match and Cam Le 5-3 in the second match to lead the group. Meanwhile, Hai Chau advanced as second place thanks to a 1-0 victory over Cam Le.

On January 13, the two matches that decided the two tickets to the next round in Group B took place in a thrilling manner. With a 2-1 victory over Son Tra thanks to a goal in the final minutes of the match, Thanh Khe finished in second place in Group B. Before that, Thanh Khe drew 0-0 with Lien Chieu and won 2-1 against Hoa Vang. Having the same 7 points as Thanh Khe, Lien Chieu won the top spot thanks to a better sub-index. Aside from the draw with Thanh Khe, Lien Chieu won 2-1 against Hoa Vang and won 4-1 against Son Tra.

Today (January 14), Ngu Hanh Son met Thanh Khe, whilst Lien Chieu faced Hai Chau. In the first semi-final, Ngu Hanh Son is rated higher than Thanh Khe team. The impressive scoring ability is the strength of Ngu Hanh Son with 8 goals after 2 matches. Meanwhile, the match between Lien Chieu and Hai Chau teams is unpredictable. Although only having one victory after the group stage, Hai Chau is one of the most successful teams in the tournament.

Aiming for the championship, the teams have prepared carefully and competed with determination in the group stage.

Athlete Le Quoc An from Hai Chau team shared “I am very happy to participate in the tournament. This is a good opportunity for me to exchange and get to know new friends. My teammates and I have passed the group stage and are determined to aim for the semi-final match with Lien Chieu. The team's goal is to win the remaining matches to win the championship”.

In the same excited mood, athlete Mai Le Quang Tuan (Ngu Hanh Son team) said in the past few days, he has had memorable experiences with his teammates. The tournament is a meaningful playground for him to express my passion for football.

According to Mr. Truong Ba, coach of Ngu Hanh Son football team, the team has 12 athletes selected from primary schools in the district. In the group stage, the players performed well in the tactics set by the coaching staff and won 2 victories. This gave the team more confidence before the semi-final match against Thanh Khe team. However, the semi-final round is a knockout round, so the coaching staff asked the players to maintain maximum concentration. Last season, the team stopped in the semi-finals, so this year they are determined to improve their performance.

Director of the municipal Sports and Physical Training Centre Tran Cong Tu said that the Da Nang Children's Football Tournament is the first city-level tournament to be held in 2025. The tournament aims is to create a useful playground for pupil athletes in the city to exchange and compete professionally, thereby contributing to promoting the development of the football movement in particular and physical training and sports in schools in general.

In the coming seasons, the organising committee will expand the scale, creating conditions for SHB Da Nang's youth football teams to compete. This will help increase the attraction and competitiveness of the tournament.

"The organisation of sports tournaments for school-age children has been promoted by the city and brought many positive signals. Currently, the sports movement in schools is attracting many students to practice and compete regularly. In addition to the children's football tournament, in 2025, the centre will coordinate with units to organise many city-level sports tournaments for pupils such as cross-country, chess, athletics, basketball, table tennis, vovinam and karate" said Mr. Tu.

Reporting by PHI NONG - Translating by M.DUNG