On the evening of September 13, in the early match of round 6 of V.League 2025-2026, Nam Dinh Steel Club had a 0-0 draw at Thong Nhat Stadium against Ho Chi Minh City Police. Although being the team that was rated higher, Nam Dinh could not impose a playing style, even in the second half, Ho Chi Minh City Police was the team that played well and created more opportunities.
Nam Dinh faces difficulties with domestic players
Speaking after the match, coach Vu Hong Viet of Nam Dinh Steel Blue expressed regret that his team did not win. He also said that the muddy Thong Nhat pitch after the rain somewhat affected the team's playing style.
He said: "I am satisfied with the team's fighting spirit in today's match. The players played hard and all their efforts. We had many opportunities in the first half but could not solve them, it was a pity. Thong Nhat Stadium surface is not good, very muddy, affecting the overall playing style of both teams, not just us".
Mr. Viet also shared more about the force situation: "Currently, we are facing problems with injuries to domestic players. Today's match has all the recovered players. Hong Duy, Van Dat, A Mit have just returned. In addition, many other players have just recovered, so their physical strength is not guaranteed. This is a big difficulty for us.
Compared to Hanoi Police or The Cong Viettel, our domestic force is quite thin. In general, the quality is still high, but in terms of squad depth, it cannot be equal to those two teams.
In the next 20 days, we have to play 6 matches, an average of 3 days 1 match. This will be a huge physical pressure, and I think there needs to be rotation and rotation of players".
Coach Le Huynh Duc defends Tien Linh
On the other side of the front line, coach Le Huynh Duc of Ho Chi Minh City Police successfully deployed a counter-attacking defensive strategy against the defending champion team.
Speaking after the match, Mr. Duc said that Nam Dinh was a strong team and he had studied the opponent. He said: "Every team is professional, the coaches study the opponents. We also have a way to research to come up with a suitable training method. Nam Dinh is a strong team with many quality players, so we try to organize the defense well and take advantage of quick counter-attacks.
In the first half, we did not play really well, were a bit subjective, tried to attack but could not score, so we were impatient. In the second half, the team played more stably and controlled better. In this match, Nam Dinh was somewhat subjective when meeting a weaker team. When they cannot dominate the game, they start to get impatient."
When asked about Tien Linh not scoring, coach Le Huynh Duc spoke up to defend his student: "It will be very difficult to put pressure on the players and require him to score. Linh did a good job, although he did not directly score, he still created opportunities for his teammates.
The coach cannot put pressure on the players to do exactly as people expect, but can only urge and encourage them to practice more."
With a 0-0 draw at Thong Nhat Stadium, both Ho Chi Minh City Police and Nam Dinh Steel Club have 7 points after 4 matches, sharing 4th and 5th place respectively on the rankings.
