VPF reminds Nam Dinh about the attitude to play
On the Thien Truong Stadium on August 2, Nam Dinh changed eight positions in the starting line-up compared to the last match, mainly players who were rarely used in recent times. The situations of losing a goal against CAHN also caused the home fans to react violently, with boycott actions such as leaving, throwing drums on the field, burning shirts. Nam Dinh Fan Association also announced that they would not come to the stadium to support the team until the end of the tournament.
A day after the incident, the V-League Organizing Committee, the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company, VPF sent a letter to remind the Nam Thanh team. The official dispatch reads: "Based on professional documents and related information, Nam Dinh Club shows a low competitive spirit, does not respond to the current capacity and level".
VPF assessed that the incident caused bad media opinions, directly affecting the image of V-League and Nam Dinh Club. VPF suggested that the club learn from experience and improve the professional consciousness of its members, and at the same time, ensure the honesty and fairness of the results of the matches.
Before the match, Nam Dinh ranked fifth with 23 points, five points behind CAHN and six points behind Hanoi FC. The team still has the opportunity to race for the championship when there are four matches left to finish the tournament. However, they did not use the strongest squad, before CAHN was in erratic form.
Nam Dinh opened the scoring in the 53rd minute. But then, they let CAHN equalize 1-1 in the 62nd minute counter-attack. Not long after, the home team withdrew from the field of well-playing striker Andre Luiz. The climax was the situation when Ngo Duc Huy let the ball touch his hand in the penalty area in the second minute of compensation, helping the visitors to have a penalty and score a 2-1 reverse goal.
Currently, Nam Dinh is nine points behind the leading team Hanoi FC and has almost no chance to compete for the championship. In the last three rounds, they met Hai Phong on August 6 and Binh Dinh on August 12, respectively, before returning to Thien Truong Stadium to host Ha Tinh on August 27.
