On the evening of June 14, at Ninh Binh Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City Police Club defeated the home team in the 2025-2026 National Cup final to win the championship. This title helped the Ho Chi Minh City representative team win the right to compete for the National Super Cup and participate in the ASEAN Club Championship next season.
Although not contributing much in terms of playing time at the National Cup, Nguyen Tien Linh still sees the championship as a great motivation after a difficult season.
The striker born in 1997 shared: "I once won the National Cup and National Super Cup when I played for Binh Duong. But this time it is more meaningful when I wear the captain's armband and play for the new team. It is even more meaningful when it is like an encouragement for me after a not-so-good season.
In the 2025-2026 season, Tien Linh and goalkeeper Patrik Le Giang are members of the leadership board of Ho Chi Minh City Police Club. However, unstable form makes this striker not have much contribution in terms of number of appearances as well as number of goals in both V.League and National Cup.
In the final match against Ninh Binh, Tien Linh was brought onto the field in the final minutes but still left his mark with a dangerous finish that goalkeeper Dang Van Lam had to work hard to save.
Looking back at the past period, the 28-year-old striker admitted that he has not reached the expected form.
In the very long time that has passed, my form has not been as desired. The fact that I haven't scored for so long is also a low note in my career. However, when the season is approaching the end, I have made efforts to regain the feeling of scoring goals. 6 goals in the V.League and 1 goal in the National Cup are not too bad achievements," Tien Linh said.
This striker also aims to improve his scoring record in the colors of Ho Chi Minh City Police Club next season.
Notably, Tien Linh still hopes to continue to participate in coach Kim Sang-sik's plan in the Vietnamese national team.
With the Vietnamese team, I am still waiting to see if I will be named in the call-up list. If coach Kim Sang-sik still calls, it will be a great honor for me, because the ASEAN Cup is a very important tournament for the team. Hopefully with what I have shown, I will achieve my goal," the striker shared.
Nguyen Tien Linh is the owner of the 2024 Vietnam Golden Ball and has contributed to many successes of the Vietnamese national team. However, the 2025-2026 season is considered one of the most difficult periods in his career when he went through a streak of 17 consecutive matches without scoring before gradually regaining the feeling of scoring at the end of the season.
