For the first time in 5 years, the National Super Cup match did not feature any representative from the capital's football team. The last time this happened was in 2017 when Quang Nam beat Song Lam Nghe An 1-0 at Hang Day Stadium. Since then, except for 2021 when it was not held due to COVID-19, which prevented the season from ending, every year there has been at least one representative from the capital. Hanoi FC was present in 4/5 matches and won all of them. Therefore, with the same victory in 2010 when they were still called Hanoi T&T, Hanoi FC jumped to the number 1 position in terms of the number of Super Cup wins (5), surpassing Song Lam Nghe An and Becamex Binh Duong (both 4).
Power over the long haul
In 2017, Quang Nam was a “phenomenon” in the V.League , winning the championship thanks to a better head-to-head coefficient than FLC Thanh Hoa (both teams had 48 points). This year, Thep Xanh Nam Dinh is also a “phenomenon”, maintaining the most stability in a season that was interrupted many times. Coach Vu Hong Viet and his team were 6 points ahead of the second-placed team, scoring 60 goals/26 matches - 13 goals more than their closest opponent.
While Nam Dinh did not win the championship with the strongest defense - conceding 38 goals - only 3 teams less, their attacking power was a romantic story, with the main character being Rafaelson, the striker who scored more than 50% of the team's goals (31). It is not too much to say that the players of Thanh Nam played as if they wanted to fix what happened last season, when there was a period when they made fans lose faith, boycott, and leave the team because they felt like their love was betrayed.
Will those who turned their backs on the team forget that resentment? Maybe, maybe not, but in any case, the team at Thien Truong Stadium has quenched their thirst after winning the highest football tournament in Vietnam for the first time in 1985, when the tournament was called the National A1 Football Tournament. That year, when it was still called Ha Nam Ninh Industry, they topped the table in both the first and second stages, then entered the final with the second-placed team, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry, and won 3-1.
Of course, the championship of Ha Nam Ninh Industry that year was partly due to the match-fixing incident in Group 2, so the two teams in Group 1 competed in the final, but looking back at history to see the similarity between the two championships of Nam Dinh football is the attacking power. In 1985, they scored 22 goals/15 matches before the final.
The current Nam Dinh Blue Steel, everyone can see, relies on Rafaelson's goals. But in reality, the satellites in the hands of coach Hong Viet, 45 years old, are also very good. So that at a certain point, when Rafaelson is silent, other factors appear in time to maintain good results for the team.
And back to the story of the fans, although people once imagined that the stands of Thien Truong Stadium would no longer be filled as before, the reality proved the opposite. Still the same familiar scene, the fans of Thanh Nam made the fire at Thien Truong constantly burn. Or to be more precise, their passion for football is among the top in Vietnam.
King of Cup
There is a statistic that shows that, in the 50-year history of formation and development, Thanh Hoa club (founded in 1962), they only have one title in the tradition room, which is the National Super Cup in 2009 - the year they were still called Lam Son Thanh Hoa and won SHB Da Nang after a penalty shootout. But since coach Velizar Popov arrived, in 2 years, Thanh Hoa has had 3 more cups.
What is special? All on the cup front, not the national championship. It is understood that, for a mid-level club with moderate financial resources like Thanh Hoa, rushing into the personnel arms race to compete for the V.League championship is impossible. And they chose for themselves a different path to success. More risky, but also more reasonable - Cup competition.
Thanh Hoa won the National Cup championship for two consecutive years, along with one Super Cup. Of course, they will aim to complete the double for the second consecutive year on these two fronts.
Financial conditions are one reason, but the decision to appoint Popov is also confirmed to be reasonable, with a model of a "provocative" coach like Jose Mourinho. The Bulgarian coach is not afraid to speak frankly, to speak the truth, to touch and offend anyone, but it cannot be denied that he has chosen a reasonable path for Thanh Hoa.
Thanh Hoa only ranked 8th in the 2023 - 2024 V.League - 5 points above the relegation play-off position, the goal difference is even negative. But in the National Cup, let's see who they beat? Hai Phong in the quarter-finals, Nam Dinh in the semi-finals, then Hanoi FC in the final. In 2023, the journey seemed luckier when meeting First Division teams on the way, but in the final, they still silenced Viettel before losing on penalties. Then in the 2023 Super Cup, they beat Hanoi Police 3 - 1, even though they played at Hang Day Stadium...
Figuratively speaking, coach Popov has put his players in the highest realm of “life and death battle”. Because the cup is a knockout match, mistakes cannot be corrected until the following season. And somehow, at least up to this point, the best of Thanh Hoa has been shown, especially mental strength and discipline.
Discipline, it may sound like a luxury for a strategist with Popov's personality, but that's what he does with his authority. The authority of a man who knows no fear. Sometimes the performance is arrogant, reckless, making many people uncomfortable, but in the end, he is doing everything for the football team that hired him. And they are all successful.
So, in the match on Saturday afternoon (August 31), even at Thien Truong Stadium, the home team Nam Dinh will need to remember that this is a “life and death battle”. Mistakes cannot be corrected!
