The superior class of Nam Dinh Club

By successfully defending the V-League championship, Nam Dinh Club showed its superiority in terms of squad quality and depth, as well as the leadership mark of head coach Vu Hong Viet.

Nam Dinh Green Steel Club won the championship 1 round early - Photo: NGOC LE

The 2-0 victory over Quang Nam on the evening of June 15 in round 25 helped Nam Dinh Club win the V-League 2024 - 2025 one round early. Against an opponent in the bottom group who is thirsty for points and determined to stay in the league, Nam Dinh had no difficulty winning even though they only needed a draw to complete the goal.

Therefore, the match against Hong Linh Ha Tinh in the final round will only be a formality for Nam Dinh. Coach Vu Hong Viet and his team will celebrate and lift the championship trophy at Thien Truong home field.

With this championship, Nam Dinh Club equaled the achievements of the four teams Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Long An, Hanoi and Binh Duong in successfully defending the V-League title in the second season.

Well deserved championship

54 points after 25 matches help Nam Dinh Club leave the second-placed team, Hanoi, 8 points behind. The gap between the team from the Southern region at the time of winning the V-League last season was 6 points. That similar number shows that Nam Dinh is still a team that is too strong compared to the rest of the tournament, even though the path they have gone through this season has not been smooth.

Coach Vu Hong Viet shared after the victory over Quang Nam on the evening of June 15: "This season, our opponents have figured out our strengths and weaknesses. We have also gone through periods of losing key players due to injuries."

Without a squad with enough depth and quality, Nam Dinh is unlikely to achieve its goal when having to spread its strength to play on many fronts.

On Transfermarkt, Nam Dinh FC's squad is valued at 5.6 million euros, the most expensive in the V-League. Although not much more expensive than the Hanoi Police (5.41 million euros) and Hanoi (5.08 million euros), Nam Dinh has lost the most expensive player in the squad, Nguyen Xuan Son (700,000 euros), since the beginning of the season.

Team and coach imprint

Without their main striker Xuan Son, Nam Dinh still knows how to get maximum points thanks to their flexible attacking style. Coach Vu Hong Viet has individuals who can shine, not only in attack but also in midfield and defense.

The evidence is shown on the scorer rankings. Excluding Xuan Son, Nam Dinh FC has no one in the top 10 players with the most goals in V-League to date. However, they have the most total goals in the tournament (50 goals), even though there is still 1 round left to play.

That number shows that Nam Dinh is not a "one-man team", and indeed their list of goalscorers is spread across the striker, midfielder and defender positions.

Not counting Xuan Son (injured), midfielder Ly Cong Hoang Anh (left) is the player who has scored the most goals for Nam Dinh up to this point - Photo: NGOC LE

The foreign players who scored the most goals for Nam Dinh were Brenner (5 goals), Mpande (4 goals) who both had to play multiple positions such as midfielder, central defender, doing more tasks than a normal striker. The player who scored the most goals for Nam Dinh was a midfielder - Ly Cong Hoang Anh (6 goals). Van Vi (3 goals), Kevin Pham Ba (2 goals) were defenders.

Looking at world football, many clubs have strong squads but not everyone wants to win the championship. Meanwhile, to win the championship, teams need more factors than just the strength of the squad. With Nam Dinh, in the hands of coach Vu Hong Viet, there is a team with even levels of skill, where individuals play cohesively, in harmony and know how to shine at the right time.

This championship of Nam Dinh Club also honors the leadership mark of coach Vu Hong Viet. Under the leadership of the captain born in 1979, the team from Thanh Nam played well, winning 16 matches, including many important matches with candidates competing for the championship.

The most memorable of these was the 3-0 victory over direct rival Hanoi FC at Hang Day Stadium in the second leg in early May.

Coach Vu Hong Viet is doing very well with Nam Dinh - Photo: NGOC LE

Another factor that plays an important role in Nam Dinh's championship journey is the fans. No other club in the V-League has as many supporters as the team from Thanh Nam with an average of nearly 10,000 people watching each match at Thien Truong Stadium. Not to mention, there are also many Nam Dinh fans willing to travel long distances to away stadiums to cheer on their team.

The enthusiastic atmosphere at the stadiums where Nam Dinh FC plays has become the "12th player", bringing strength to coach Hong Viet and his team and making it difficult for opponents to perform at their best.

Regret of Hanoi Club

The inability to win the 2024-2025 V-League championship is a regrettable result compared to the efforts of Hanoi Club. In the context of the team saying goodbye to many of its trained stars and experiencing changes in the coaching bench, the capital team still recovered and played well in the second leg, winning 7 consecutive unbeaten matches and continuously chasing Nam Dinh in the top 2 since round 15.

But with just one disastrous loss to the team from Thanh Nam in round 21, Hanoi lost the chance to break away, the opponent widened the safety gap to 5 points, thereby regretting the runner-up position.

NGOC LE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dang-cap-vuot-troi-cua-clb-nam-dinh-20250616123017649.htm