Coach Vu Hong Viet parted ways with Nam Dinh Green Steel?

Coach Vu Hong Viet resigns after the loss to Gamba Osaka.

After 2 consecutive seasons of winning LPBank V-League, Nam Dinh Blue Steel suddenly went into a slump. They started the new 2025/26 season with a 2-3 loss to Hanoi Police in the National Super Cup match and could not create the stability as expected.

Nam Dinh Green Steel won their opening matches in all three major tournaments: V-League, AFC Cup Winners' Cup, and Southeast Asian Cup Winners' Cup. However, they haven't won two consecutive matches since the start of the season. This inconsistent form has drawn much criticism for coach Vu Hong Viet's team.

This week, Nam Dinh Green Steel suffered a heavy 1-3 defeat away to Gamba Osaka, extending their poor run of form. This was their third loss in their last four matches. Prior to this, they lost to Hanoi Police and Becamex Ho Chi Minh City at their home stadium, Thien Truong, dropping them to 10th place in the V-League, just four points ahead of bottom-placed HAGL.

According to experts, the main reason for Nam Dinh Green Steel's decline is the decline of domestic players and the lack of innovation in tactics by coach Vu Hong Viet. With winning the V-League for two consecutive years, many pillars of the white shirt team seem to have lost their motivation to win.

Reliable sources say that coach Vu Hong Viet has decided to part ways with the Nam Dinh Steel Blue right after the defeat against Gamba Osaka. The Thien Truong Stadium team will likely make an official announcement today, although they want coach Vu Hong Viet to lead one more match to have time to find a replacement.

Coach Vu Hong Viet was born in 1979. He used to be a player for Hanoi ACB, HAGL and Hoa Phat Hanoi. He started coaching in 2011 as an assistant at Hanoi Youth. He then became the head coach of Vietnam U15 and U19 before trying his hand at V-League with Quang Nam in 2019.

After successfully helping Quang Nam avoid relegation, Mr. Vu Hong Viet joined the coaching staff of the Vietnamese national team under coach Park Hang-seo. At the end of August 2022, he was appointed by Thep Xanh Nam Dinh to replace coach Nguyen Van Sy and has held the position ever since. Under coach Vu Hong Viet, Nam Dinh won two V-League championships in 2024 and 2025.