V.League 2024-2025 starts tomorrow (September 14). As the Chairman of Hanoi Club, what goals do you set for the team this season?
- Hanoi FC's goal remains unchanged, which is to aim for the highest achievement in all tournaments. One of our advantages is that this year we do not compete on the international front, so we can focus on the domestic stage. Hanoi FC will try to regain the position of last year.
With the best preparation, under the guidance of coach Le Duc Tuan, hopefully this year Hanoi club will show a positive face as well as win the title.
This season's V.League has teams with big investments and massive transfers. In your opinion, who is Hanoi FC's biggest rival at the moment?
- I think this season is no different from the last two seasons. Hanoi's biggest rival will be Nam Dinh, followed by Hanoi Police. In addition, rivals such as The Cong Viettel and Binh Duong are also ready to compete for the V.League championship. Therefore, Hanoi FC will have to seize the opportunity and solve each match one by one.
This year, Hanoi FC promoted many young players to the first team and they were registered in the V.League competition list. Do you believe that this year the young force will explode like in the 2018 and 2019 seasons?
- Actually, it's very difficult to compare generations of young players at different times.
But the current generation of young Hanoi players have at least 1-2 years of experience playing in the V.League. They are also ready for the new season, when they have the opportunity, they will take the field and show their skills.
For many years, Hanoi FC has always optimized its resources, using players trained from its own youth center, without having to follow the transfer market too much. Hopefully this year, with this way of doing football, Hanoi FC will receive many achievements.
Young players like Nguyen Van Truong or most recently Long Nhat and Le Van Ha, who have just been promoted to the first team, will try to show their ability when given the opportunity, and will also compete and replace key positions when adjustments are needed.
Does Hanoi FC plan to develop overseas Vietnamese in the squad, as this is something the Vietnam Football Federation is encouraging, in order to create a source of supply for the national team?
- The latest regulation of VFF is to allow 2 overseas Vietnamese players to participate in the tournament. In my opinion, this is an encouraging policy to give Vietnamese players the opportunity to play for V.League teams.
For Hanoi, this is a door to find more resources as well as give opportunities to players who want to return to their homeland to contribute. For Hanoi, national pride is always a top priority.
Recently, the team has found a Vietnamese-American player, Kyle Colonna. At first, he was quite confused because it was his first time in Vietnam. However, Colonna is trying very hard to integrate and perform well.
Hopefully in the coming years, Hanoi FC will continue to look for overseas Vietnamese players who are capable, meet professional requirements, and fulfill all the participation slots according to the tournament's regulations.
So next season, besides the title goal, what other goals will Hanoi FC aim for to upgrade and raise the team's level?
- In football, we always have to set achievement goals. In addition, Hanoi FC hopes that the whole team will demonstrate their solidarity and identity with the beautiful playing style that has been built for many years.
Besides, we hope to receive the support of the fans, the stands of Hang Day Stadium are always full of fans, so that every match at home will be a festival. That is a positive encouragement for the players to perform their best, together aiming for the championship goal.
Finally, what message does the Capital team want to send to the players and the audience?
- The most important message for Hanoi FC this season is to try to show a positive image, worthy of the team's slogan: "Pride of the Capital".
We will try, unite and work towards the ultimate goal, which is the recognition and acceptance of the fans - the 12th players.
