What do you see from round 13 of V.League 2025-2026? Hoang Anh Gia Lai wins against Phu Dong Ninh Binh. Dong A Thanh Hoa overcomes Cong An TPHCM. Song Lam Nghe An crushes The Cong Viettel. PVF CAND defeats Becamex TPHCM. All are away from home, the winning team is considered "underdog", even some teams are in a personnel and financial storm.
Although this is not an image representing the entire V.League season, but also because of the emotions brought to the fans of these clubs and many others, people think about the long-standing aspect of Vietnamese football.
That is the image of Vietnamese football being good at... enduring, suffering, often creating good, emotional matches whenever it is difficult, facing strong opponents. Conversely, when in a "top position", with a little "condition", they struggle, cannot solve the match, solve the problem that is thought to be favorable. The result is that the match slips away, without emotion, or if there is, but it is a negative reaction.
In that situation, can you honestly answer the question of whether to choose "poor but emotional football" or "rich but problematic football"? In fact, this is the type of question that people still say is "moral trap", pushing the answerer into choosing which way will be judged.
Clearly, no one wants to be poor. No one advocates for hardship, salary debt, or living precariously day by day. But we cannot ignore the fact that, in many stages, adversity has helped Vietnamese football reveal its best version.
Perhaps the problem is not in the words "rich" or "money", but in the way it transforms its value on the pitch, spreading to the stands, exaggerated through television and platforms. Here, it is not said that when teams have conditions, they do not try, contribute, but it is not enough, not commensurate with expectations. So that when falling into a difficult situation, fighting with spirit brings more sympathy than satisfaction, if looking at the long road.
Statuses like the results of round 13 should not become the foundation for national football. Because if not, at some point they will even fall into a common saying on social networks: "In the old days, we were poor but happy, now we are still poor but no longer happy".
