Nguyen Xuan Son brings Nam Dinh Club back to the race

THE CHAMPION IS BACK

Nam Dinh FC had a difficult start to the season, due to the fluctuating performance of the attack, in the context of the main striker Nguyen Xuan Son being closely watched by V-League defenders.

Nam Dinh Club wins big to stay in the lead

However, with a quality domestic force and a source of high-class foreign players to serve the AFC Champions League 2 playground, Nam Dinh Club overcame the situation very quickly, thanks to the brilliance of Hendrio Araujo, Joseph Mpande, Caio Cesar, and domestic players such as Hoang Anh and Van Vi.

The bottleneck of Nam Dinh FC in the early stages of this season was the comeback to defeat Tampines Rovers in the AFC Champions League 2. Before welcoming the Singapore team, coach Vu Hong Viet and his team had only won 2 of their last 6 matches. After that, Nam Dinh seemed to have taken the lead off their feet, defeating Ho Chi Minh City FC 3-0 despite not having the strongest squad, before pouring goals into Da Nang's net. Although the visiting team Da Nang was at the bottom of the table, Nam Dinh FC's 5-0 victory on the evening of November 16 was still impressive. The home team swept away the first-class rookie with a stormy attacking style and the ability to effectively take advantage of opportunities. Nguyen Xuan Son regained his scoring touch with a double, but even if the striker with dual Vietnamese and Brazilian nationality did not score, Nam Dinh FC still had other equally effective sources of goals.

Thanks to the best resources in V-League (in terms of human resources, playing style and economic potential), Nam Dinh Club has returned to the race with 16 points and second place, only 1 point behind the top team Thanh Hoa.

In the latest match of round 8, Hanoi Police Club (CAHN) lost 1-2 to the home team Ho Chi Minh City, which is in crisis. The second consecutive away loss pushed CAHN Club down to 8th place, 6 points behind the top spot.

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR HA TINH AND THANH HOA ?

In the last 7 seasons, the championship has always belonged to teams with experienced and skilled squads and high-class foreign players such as Hanoi (2018, 2019, 2022), The Cong Viettel (2020), CAHN Club (2023) and Nam Dinh (2023 - 2024). Teams with more modest potential often cause surprises in the National Cup, such as the story of Quang Nam (runner-up 2019) or Thanh Hoa (champion 2023, 2023 - 2024).

However, V-League is also interesting because of "phenomena" such as Hai Phong (2022), Thanh Hoa (2023) or Binh Dinh (2023 - 2024). These are clubs that are not rich or have many stars, but thanks to good organization, good coaches and a style of play that knows themselves and their opponents, they still make a splash.

This season, Thanh Hoa FC is leading convincingly, including a 9-match unbeaten streak in all competitions. Coach Velizar Popov always falls into the situation of "eating proportionately", having to make do with a limited number of players each season, but has built a disciplined team, with the best pressing tactics in the V-League and a commendable fighting spirit. Ha Tinh FC is ranked third with the first time in history having an 8-match unbeaten streak in the V-League. Coach Nguyen Thanh Cong has been coaching Ha Tinh for 3 years and the Nghe An strategist is also very good at "rotating troops", creating tactics suitable for the modest quality of players.

The teams have been trying to accelerate before the tournament takes a break in the middle of next week (when round 9 ends), making way for the Vietnamese team to compete in the 2024 AFF Cup.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/v-league-nguyen-xuan-son-dua-clb-nam-dinh-tro-lai-cuoc-dua-185241116233630665.htm