Thái Sơn Nam celebrate winning their National Futsal Championship title. — Photo vov.vn

Futsal

HÀ NỘI With a strong squad, Thái Sơn Nam have easily won the 2024 National Futsal Championship, for a thirteenth time.

The Thái Sơn Nam Stadium was packed with spectators when the home team played the final match of the tournament against Hà Nội on Wednesday.

Coach Nguyễn Tuấn Anh and his team were certain to win the championship two rounds early, but still sent out their strongest squad to seek victory.

Not disappointing the fans, Phạm Đức Hòa and his teammates pushed up their attacking formation right from the start of the match. After only 11 minutes, Trần Thái Huy scored a brace to put Thái Sơn Nam ahead 2-0.

Hà Nội pulled one goal back before the end of the first half. But in the second half, Thái Sơn Nam continued to dominate and scored two more goals thanks to foreign player Lucas Catatau and Nguyễn Anh Duy, sealing a 4-1 victory.

At the end of the tournament, Thái Sơn Nam were crowned champion with a total of 39 points, after 13 wins and one loss. The new champions scored 64 goals and conceded only 13. This is the 13th time the club have won the national futsal championship in 18 seasons of the tournament.

This year's tournament, held across three locations – Hà Nội, Khánh Hòa and HCM City - featured 14 rounds and 56 matches.

Thái Sơn Nam's success is a testament to the quality of their players and the substantial investment from the team's leadership. They also won the style award for their dedicated and professional play.

In the individual awards categories, the champions swept the honours: Best Goalkeeper went to Hồ Văn Ý, Best Player to Nguyễn Mạnh Dũng and Top Scorer to Nguyễn Thịnh Phát with 16 goals.

The runner-up title was claimed by Thái Sơn Bắc, the only team to defeat Thái Sơn Nam in this year’s event. Sahako secured third place, showing great effort despite significant team changes.

According to Trần Anh Tú, vice president of the Việt Nam Football Federation (VFF), head of the National Futsal Committee, the 2024 season shows a positive effect when the national championship continues to be organised in a home-away format.

"The home-away effect continues to prove its appeal to fans like the 2023 season, when the team's identity, tradition and local pride are promoted. The packed stadiums in HCM City and Nha Trang are proof," Tú said.

"Allowing teams to use foreign players is another new feature that creates a positive effect for the 2024 season.

"Foreign players not only make fans curious and excited to come to the stadium, but also help domestic players have the opportunity to learn more about competition skills. The organising committee will continue to maintain these positive points in the coming seasons." VNS