Hoang Anh Gia Lai has a smooth start after 2 years
Hoang Anh Gia Lai used to be a force in Vietnamese football 20 years ago. At that time, Mr. Duc (Chairman Doan Nguyen Duc) had just started with his love for football, devoting a lot of effort and money to building the mountain town team into a force in the V.League.
Kiatisak, Dusit, Minh Duc, Manh Dung... created a dream team in V.League in the period 2003 - 2006. At that time, perhaps only Dong Tam Long An Brick (the predecessor of Long An) was strong enough to compete with Hoang Anh Gia Lai's position.
After winning the 2003 championship right after being promoted, Hoang Anh Gia Lai continued to prove their power with 2 victories in the first 2 rounds of the following season. At that time, Mr. Duc's team defeated Binh Dinh 4-0, before overcoming Dong Thap with a 2-goal difference.
A year later, the team from the Mountain City made an impressive entry into the V.League. They once again defeated Binh Dinh 2-0 and beat Song Lam Nghe An 3-1 in the first two matches. Until the 2024-2025 season, those were also the two rare occasions that Hoang Anh Gia Lai won all the first two matches.
This season, although not on the list of candidates for the V.League championship, the Pleiku home team surprised everyone by winning the first two matches.
Accordingly, they beat Quang Nam 4-0 away and beat Song Lam Nghe An 2-0 at home. After 20 years, Hoang Anh Gia Lai has had such a perfect start.
Thanks to that, coach Le Quang Trai and his team are firmly at the top of the V.League table, in the context of candidates such as Hanoi, Hanoi Police, and Nam Dinh struggling in the middle positions of the rankings.
What miracle for Hoang Anh Gia Lai?
Hoang Anh Gia Lai is currently considered a "phenomenon" in the V.League 2024-2025 in the first phase. It should be added that, looking at the 6 points this team has won, they are... supported by both subjective and objective factors.
The two opponents of the Mountain City team in rounds 1 and 2 are in the relegation race. Song Lam Nghe An does not have too much investment, in fact, most of the domestic players are under 23 years old. Meanwhile, Quang Nam has said goodbye to a series of key players such as Dinh Bac, Xuan Tu, Ngoc Ha, Conrado... which greatly affects their internal strength.
It can be seen that Hoang Anh Gia Lai has somewhat benefited from the match schedule. But it cannot be denied that they have taken advantage of this factor to gain the highest score.
Regarding subjective factors, it is internal from the force to the playing style of Hoang Anh Gia Lai.
Coach Pham Anh Tuan of Song Lam Nghe An once said after the defeat: "Their high ball plays are dangerous. Hoang Anh Gia Lai's strength is quick counter-attacks. They often play very smoothly and play very dangerously, if their opponents attack first. They seize opportunities very well."
Regarding the squad, apart from introducing Tran Gia Bao at the age of 16, Hoang Anh Gia Lai does not have any players under the age of 20. Most of the names in the squad are familiar faces such as Van Son, A Hoang, Thanh Son, Ngoc Quang, Quang Nho, Bao Toan or Minh Vuong.
Bao Toan had a commendable start, with 3 assists in 2 matches. Notably, this striker had 2 assists to help Hoang Anh Gia Lai open the score in 2 victories.
Combining both external and internal factors, Hoang Anh Gia Lai has had the smoothest start in 20 years. Of course, the challenges of the mountain town team in the next rounds will gradually increase in difficulty and it is predicted that it will be difficult to maintain high performance.
Anyway, with the strength they have, Hoang Anh Gia Lai deserves the respect of their opponents, avoid being subjective if you don't want to be counterattacked by them...
