The identity of the capital
In the past two years, football in the capital has been somewhat outclassed in the professional league. In the National Cup, The Cong Viettel and Hanoi lost to Thanh Hoa in the final after a lucky penalty shootout. In the V.League, they must witness Nam Dinh being crowned for two consecutive seasons.
That is a disappointment, especially when compared to the period of The Cong Viettel, Hanoi Police and especially Hanoi taking turns to the throne from 2018 to 2023.
The 2024-2025 National Cup is an opportunity for the representative of the capital to regain their form. Before that, Thanh Hoa had soon become the former champion, while Nam Dinh also stopped at the round of 16. The teams entering the semi-finals such as Binh Duong and Song Lam Nghe An were actually greatly affected after the race to stay in the V.League, the motivation and ambition of these two teams in the National Cup were almost exhausted.
Obviously, the remaining semi-final match between Hanoi Police and The Cong Viettel at Hang Day Stadium is no different from an early final. In which, the winning team is considered to have one hand in the championship trophy.
Remember, Hanoi Police have been left empty-handed for two consecutive seasons. The Cong Viettel have also not won any more championships since V.League 2020. Therefore, the National Cup is like a shower after the drought, filling the title gap for both clubs with the most potential and ambition in Vietnam.
In addition, if one of the two teams wins the championship, the capital football will also regain its championship after two consecutive seasons without a trophy.
Towards the international front
On the afternoon of June 25, Nam Dinh suddenly announced that they will compete in the Southeast Asian Club Championship and AFC Champions League Two. This makes the prediction about the allocation of regional and continental tournament allowances previously unrealistic.
This season's V.League champion will compete in the Asian front, and is also allowed to appear in the Southeast Asian Club Championship instead of giving up a spot to the second-placed team in the domestic tournament.
The above story is similar to the National Cup. The crowned team of this tournament will be eligible to compete in the AFC Champions League Two and the Southeast Asian Championship.
Of course, the teams ranked 3rd or 4th in V.League 2024-2025 such as Hanoi Police and The Cong Viettel will have a hard time hoping to participate in the regional arena tournament. The only way for them to decide for themselves at this time is to win the National Cup
This is also important for the transfer and construction of forces between The Cong Viettel and Hanoi Police. For nearly a month, the two teams have planned to recruit players in a big way, from domestic players, overseas Vietnamese to foreign players.
The special right to register unlimited foreign players if participating in the Southeast Asian Cup C1 or AFC Champions League Two is the motivation for the capital representatives to aim for the National Cup championship this season.
Also related to the transfer story. Before competing in the National Cup semi-finals, both sides had a "confrontation" over a player. Vu Van Thanh almost joined The Cong Viettel after his contract with Hanoi Police expired.
However, the police team took Van Thanh back before the army representative. In the end, the Hai Duong defender stayed with a 3-year contract. This was enough to heat up the interesting semi-final match between the two representatives of the Capital on the afternoon of June 26.
