The domestic playground has become too unpredictable, surprise after surprise!

Hanoi FC is the most successful football team in Vietnam today, with 6 V-League championships (2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022), 3 National Cups (2019, 2020 and 2022), 5 National Super Cups (2010, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022). These are all record statistics of Vietnamese football.

Domestic tournaments have many surprises

Hanoi FC also contributed many national players to the Vietnam national team, which just won the AFF Cup, including defenders Xuan Manh, Thanh Chung, Duy Manh, midfielder Hai Long, and striker Tuan Hai. Even Hanoi FC players who did not participate in the AFF Cup 2024, such as Van Quyet, Hung Dung, Van Tung, Van Truong... are also among the best in the country. They have played for the Vietnam national team and the U.23 Vietnam team recently.

However, Hanoi FC still lost to the lower-ranked Dong Thap team. That shows that any result can happen in domestic tournaments. Big teams, if lacking concentration, or lacking a bit of luck, can still lose to teams that are theoretically considered weaker.

Dong Thap (right) causes shock

Photo: Minh Tu

Hanoi FC's defeat may have made the team sad. However, from another perspective, surprise is one of the factors that make the domestic tournament attractive. Surprise makes domestic tournaments unpredictable, and at the same time motivates "small" and weak teams to try harder. If the underdogs try harder, they can do big things, like what Dong Thap Football Club just did against Hanoi in the National Cup on the evening of January 12.

Previously, in the V-League, names like HAGL, Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh also created surprises for the tournament. The fact that HAGL, Ha Tinh and to some extent Thanh Hoa had times when they rose to the top of the V-League made the national championship unpredictable. From these surprises, some pillars of the HAGL and Thanh Hoa teams, such as Chau Ngoc Quang, goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien, or Doan Ngoc Tan were noticed by coach Kim Sang-sik, who called them up to the Vietnam national team, before they contributed to helping the Vietnam team win the AFF Cup 2024.

So, these things motivate the weaker teams, motivate the players of the weaker teams. They will try harder, with the belief that they can absolutely reach success, both collectively and individually, in case they make it against the big teams!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/san-choi-quoc-noi-tro-nen-qua-kho-luong-bat-ngo-noi-tiep-bat-ngo-18525011315395809.htm