Nam Dinh - Hai Phong: 'Fire pan' Thien Truong returns
After the 7th round, the V-League took a break for more than a month to make room for U22 Vietnam to kick the 23rd SEA Games. Many teams complained that the break caused them to stall while entering form and had to warm up again when round 8 started. But for Nam Dinh, the past month is an advantage. Injury pillars such as goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh, defender Duong Thanh Hao or foreign striker Nnamani have time to treat and recover. In the last match before the break, with a crippled squad because of the lack of these players, Nam Dinh suffered a 0-4 defeat as a guest of the Hanoi Police on April 16, breaking the unbeaten circuit in the V-League. 2023.
The top team in Thanh Hoa has just dropped the victory on HAGL's field. It is an opportunity for Nam Dinh to close the gap with the top of the table. Coach Vu Hong Viet's team is currently 6 points behind the Thanh team, but also plays one match less.
Nam Dinh's chance to win is even greater, when Hai Phong is in decline - all draws and loses in the last five matches. The loss of a series of pillars such as striker Rimario, midfielder Moses or central defender Bui Tien Dung makes them no longer maintain the impressive attacking play that helped the team finish second in the V-League 2022.
Nam Dinh also has the advantage of playing at home. Since being a poor team every season, they had to race for relegation until there was a new sponsor, raising championship ambitions, Thien Truong Stadium has always been a "pan of fire", the stadium with the largest number of fans in the country. The passionate atmosphere here makes even the away coaches such as Kiatisuk (HAGL), Vu Tien Thanh (HCMC) or Vo Dinh Tan (Khanh Hoa) utter delight.
While Thien Truong is still passionate, Vinh yard - another "pan of fire" - is gradually cooling down following the decline of the host SLNA. Thanks to the new sponsor, the Nghe team brought a series of children away from home such as Que Ngoc Hai, Tran Dinh Hoang, Nguyen Trong Hoang ... back, but still have not played well. It was not until the 7th round that coach Nguyen Huy Hoang's chair was less wobbly when they defeated HAGL 3-1. The previous six rounds, the Nghe team only drew and lost.
SLNA's opponent today is Ha Tinh, so the match between them is considered the Nghe Tinh derby, promising a lot of drama. Ha Tinh is currently ranked 7th, two places higher than SLNA but also just over one point. The result of the derby at Vinh stadium can turn the positions of the two teams upside down.
The latest match of the 8th round of V-League 2023 today, May 20, is the heroic battle between Viettel and Binh Dinh. The former king of Viettel is in decline when the pillars such as goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh or midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc are out of contract, leaving to join Nam Dinh. They were unlucky again when they lost their main striker Gieovane for a long time because of a torn ligament. The goalless draw with Hai Phong in the previous round made coach Thach Bao Khanh's army fall to 10th place with only 8 matches.
In order to no longer suffer from "Western acceptance", Viettel has just finished recruiting Egyptian striker Mohamed Essam. However, they could not immediately use this 1994 foreign soldier because according to the rules of the tournament, on June 6, the new teams could replace foreign soldiers.
