Coach Vu Hong Viet vs Coach Mano Polking: Two top strategists, a top battle of wits

At the press conference of the 2024/25 National Football Super Cup - THACO Cup, on the afternoon of August 5, CAHN coach Mano Polking believed that fans would enjoy an eye-catching match at Thien Truong Stadium, and said that "after the final whistle, we will own the Super Cup - a beautiful, special cup and really worth the wait".

Immediately afterwards, coach Vu Hong Viet of Nam Dinh Steel Blue said that "the ball has not rolled yet, so nothing can be said in advance". "This is an important match, opening the new season, so both teams are certainly very determined. For us, the desire to win is even greater when playing at home at Thien Truong", the 46-year-old coach said.

The statements of the two coaches have heated up the 2024/25 National Football Super Cup and promised an uncompromising 90 minutes between CAHN and Thep Xanh Nam Dinh at Thien Truong on August 9. At the same time, this is certainly also a tense battle of wits between the two leading strategists of V.League.

Coach Vu Hong Viet and Coach Mano Polking before the 2024/25 National Football Super Cup - THACO Cup.

Coach Polking has made a strong impression on Vietnamese fans when he won the AFF Cup twice in a row (2020, 2022). Both times, he led the Thai team to defeat Vietnam under Coach Park Hang-seo (semi-final 2020 and final 2022). After many persuasive efforts, CAHN successfully signed a contract with the German-Brazilian coach. In his first full season with the Public Security team, Coach Polking helped the club win the 2024/25 National Cup and reach the final of the 2024/25 ASEAN Clubs Championship.

As for coach Vu Hong Viet, his second V.League championship with Thep Xanh Nam Dinh is a confirmation of the talent of the strategist from Thai Binh . He also received the award for best coach of the season twice, and was voted best coach of the month four times in two seasons.

If in the 2023/24 season, many people thought that the championship of Nam Dinh Green Steel was obvious because of the strong army, plus the decline of competitors, then in the 2024/25 season, their victory once again is a recognition of the achievements of coach Vu Hong Viet.

Coach Vu Hong Viet won the V.League championship twice in a row with Nam Dinh Blue Steel.

In a season where the team from Thanh Nam had to play in many arenas, and at the same time did not have the service of super striker Nguyen Xuan Son for most of the time, the 46-year-old coach still steered the ship in the right direction by building collective strength and the ability to inspire and motivate all factors to shine. The tactical style of Thep Xanh Nam Dinh is also very flexible, ensuring a balance between attack and defense to be crowned as the team that scored the most goals (51 goals) and conceded the fewest (18).

On the CAHN side, Coach Polking is also successfully building a scientific, modern and attacking team. Not only establishing an identity, the 49-year-old coach also rediscovered the best qualities of Quang Hai, Dinh Trong, Le Van Do, Dinh Bac, while creating the best environment for foreign players such as Alan Grafite and Leo Artur to shine.

A coincidence between Coach Polking and Coach Vu Hong Viet is that they are leading the second club in the V.League in their careers. Before becoming a champion with Nam Dinh Blue Steel, Coach Vu Hong Viet had a time leading Quang Nam, helping the team successfully stay in the league in the 2019 season and leaving in the middle of the 2020 season, not long before Coach Polking was appointed by Ho Chi Minh City Club. However, similar to Coach Vu Hong Viet, Coach Polking only stayed with the team named after Uncle Ho for 10 months, then went to Thailand.

Coach Polking is happy with the 2024/25 National Cup with CAHN.

Therefore, fans have not witnessed any confrontation between Coach Polking and Coach Vu Hong Viet at that time. Until both of them came to Thep Xanh Nam Dinh and CAHN, the battle on the coaching bench began. At LPBank V.League 2024/25, in the first encounter in October 2024 at Thien Truong, CAHN successfully restrained the strength of Thep Xanh Nam Dinh with a counter-attacking style of play, then won 3-0 thanks to the midfield quickly switching and speed from both wings.

In the second leg at Hang Day Stadium, the two teams created an exciting match with continuous tit-for-tat situations. Together, with tactical calculations and flexible countermeasures, Coach Polking as well as Coach Vu Hong Viet created a truly top-notch match with many situations worth watching.

This is the premise for the third encounter on August 9, when the 2024/25 National Super Cup is calling ahead. Both Coach Polking and CAHN, along with Coach Vu Hong Viet and Thep Xanh Nam Dinh are determined to create a victory to start the new season with many ambitions. It is difficult to make a prediction. We only know that at Thien Truong, there will be 90 minutes of intense and dramatic intellectual competition created by two leading strategists.