On the evening of September 17, at Thien Truong Stadium, Nam Dinh club had a successful opening match in the AFC Champions League Two 2025-2026 when they won 3-1 against Ratchaburi of Thailand. The match was exciting with many scoring opportunities, but the final result brought some luck to the home team.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, coach Vu Hong Viet commented: "This was a very good match with high professional quality. The two teams created many scoring opportunities. We were lucky to win."
Nam Dinh uses a main squad of up to 10 foreign players including goalkeeper Caique Santos (former U20 Brazil player); defenders Kevin Pham Ba; Lucas Alves - captain, Walber Mota and Mitchell Dijks; midfield is Caio Cesar, Romulo and Percy Tau and attack line has Mahmoud Eid, Brenner.
The only domestic player in Nam Dinh's starting lineup is midfielder Ly Cong Hoang Anh. In the second half, Mr. Viet used 2 more foreign players including Kristoffer Hansen and Kyle Hudlin.
He explained: "This season, Nam Dinh plays on many fronts, so they need a force with depth. The domestic players are not really enough, so the team has to add foreign players. The Asian Cup C2 does not limit foreign players, so we are focusing on investing".
The captain also gave special compliments to the players: "My players all played hard and performed well. I highly appreciate Caio Cesar, Percy Tau, Mitchell Dijks and Brenner Marlos. You guys are great. With this form, I will arrange for Tau many opportunities to play in the V.League".
Despite the victory, coach Vu Hong Viet still pointed out areas that need improvement: "After scoring 3 goals, perhaps the players are subjective and lose focus. In the situation where the opposing team is on the sidelines, the players rush out very slowly, making it easy for the opponent to cross inside".
He also emphasized the reason for not being able to score more goals: "In the last minutes, Nam Dinh had many opportunities but did not concretize them into goals. Maybe you are tired and cannot continue to push up to support your teammates, so let the opportunity pass".
After this win, Nam Dinh will return to V.League and prepare for the away match against Ninh Binh on September 22.
