Vietnam team plays against 11 foreign players of Nam Dinh club: Like meeting... 'miniature Brazil'

The friendly matches with Nam Dinh Club and CAHN Club are a high-dose test for the Vietnamese team, as the opponents have foreign players at the top level of the V-League.

Vietnam team's 'heavyweight' friendly match

The Vietnam national team will give way to the Vietnam U.23 team in September, when the younger generation participates in the 2026 U.23 Asian qualifiers (taking place from September 3 to September 9 at Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho province).

Although the national team is still focused, it will only play 2 friendly matches with domestic clubs. The coaching staff will also change. Most likely, coach Kim Sang-sik's assistants will be assigned to lead the Vietnamese team, while Mr. Kim will focus on the U.23 team.

Vietnam team plays friendly matches with CAHN Club (red shirt) and Nam Dinh

PHOTO: MINH TU

However, even though they only met V-League representatives, including Nam Dinh Club and Hanoi Police Club (CAHN Club) on September 4 and September 7 respectively, these were all quality "tests of fire" for the Vietnamese team.

Because both teams are currently possessing the strongest squad in the V-League. Nam Dinh FC has just completed a contract with foreign player Mitchell Clement Dijks, a "steel" defender who grew up in the famous training center of Ajax Amsterdam and used to play for the U.21 Netherlands. Thereby, the team from Thanh Nam has increased the number of foreign players to 11.

Coach Vu Hong Viet currently has in his hands some extremely "quality" foreign players such as goalkeeper Caique (Brazil), defender Mitchell Dijks (Netherlands), Lucas Alves (Brazil), Walber Motta (Brazil), midfielder Caio Cesar (Brazil), Romulo da Silva (Brazil), Mahmoud Eid (Palestine), Niabulo Blom (South Africa), striker Brenner Marlos (Brazil), Percy Tau (South Africa), Kyle Hudlin (England).

All of them have grown up in developed football backgrounds, have experience playing in South America and Europe, and possess extremely high-class physique and tactics. For example, striker Kyle Hudlin is 2.06 m tall, a powerful "tower" that will greatly challenge the aerial ability of Vietnamese central defenders. Or midfielder Caio Cesar (who was named to the V-League's best team last season) is also a solid wall in midfield that Hoang Duc and his teammates will not easily overcome.

Nam Dinh Club (white shirt) has many foreign players

PHOTO: MINH TU

CAHN Club also has very good foreign players such as Leo Artur, Alan Grafite (top scorer and best player last season), or midfielder Stefan Mauk who played for the U.23 Australia team and is valued at 20 billion VND. Coach Alexandre Polking's controlling philosophy also brings good attacking power and ball control to CAHN Club, creating a difficult problem for the Vietnamese team.

Quality Exercises

The two friendly matches against the current V-League champion (Nam Dinh) and the current National Cup champion (CAHN Club) will be big challenges for the Vietnamese team. If both teams field all their foreign players, or use at least 6 or 7 "Westerners" in each half, it will be no different than the Vietnamese team facing opponents from Europe or South America.

The friendly matches against foreign players from Nam Dinh and CAHN Club are even more valuable, as the Vietnamese team is trying to compete with Malaysia, a team that also naturalizes many players of European and South American origin, in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

The quality of the opponent has been confirmed. The rest of the Vietnam team must ensure the amount of training, continue to hone their playing style and physical strength even though coach Kim Sang-sik temporarily leaves the team.

Each FIFA Days gathering has strategic significance, helping the national team to gradually improve. We need to take advantage of each gathering to progress and build our forces for the future.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-dau-11-ngoai-binh-clb-nam-dinh-cu-nhu-gap-brazil-thu-nho-185250823125238462.htm