Vietnamese Football: September brings a new beginning.

1.This September, the V-League 2024/25 will kick off its second season under the "spanning" format. Also in September, coach Kim Sang Sik will have two high-quality FIFA Days matches with the Russian and Thai national teams. Although he has already coached two matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, this is the first time people can get a comprehensive view of the new South Korean coach's capabilities, because in the previous two matches, he didn't have much time to prepare, especially in terms of tactical ideas.

At this point, the "wounds" of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers seem to have healed. Or at least, the controversial crisis under coach Philippe Troussier may be over. This isn't necessarily due to any improvement in the national team, but rather because Vietnamese football is still at a positive pace. The historic championship win of Nam Dinh football team is a highlight.

In the last 20 V-League seasons, as many as 10 different teams have won the Vietnamese championship, of which 9 teams will still be competing in the new V-League season, with the exception of GDT.LA, which is currently playing in the First Division.

Nine out of 14 teams have won the championship before, which is a very special number when compared to national championships in the region and around the world. This shows that the V-League is highly competitive and has achieved the necessary stability to maintain the quality of the top national league. Of these nine champions, six teams (besides HAGL, SHB Da Nang, and Quang Nam) are still considered contenders for the new season. That's a very encouraging number.

In other words, from a fair perspective, the V-League is fulfilling its function and role well, even though the league itself remains a controversial topic among Vietnamese football fans. People may ridicule the V-League with various negative descriptions; many fans even openly admit to loving the national team but… never having watched the V-League. But as mentioned, if we don't get too harsh, the league is still improving every day.

For example, from 2020 to 2024, there were four different V-League champions. The top spot changed hands repeatedly, something unprecedented in history. It is precisely because of this exciting race that, in the upcoming season, we see how aggressively former champions B.Binh Duong are entering the competition by completely overhauling their coaching staff.

They have won the title four times, and the excitement has sometimes faded in many seasons since their last win in 2015. If they continued like this, no one would complain. However, B.Binh Duong's actions suggest they are getting impatient and want to return stronger than before.

That's the excitement that the V-League brings to Vietnamese football, and it's not just about the number of new national team players.

2.Coach Kim Sang Sik's list, filled with veteran names, reflects a reality that must be accepted: Vietnamese football needs to wait for the next generation of talent, perhaps in a few years, not now. Coach Kim has spent time following the V-League, and indeed, he can't find any truly young players. In that spirit, the most anticipated aspect in September is how Coach Kim will "refresh" the existing squad.

In fact, the 2023/24 V-League season showed that several national team players regained their place in the national team after making good use of the opportunity in their new colors, the cases of Hong Duy or Ho Tuan Tai, for example.

These are players who, theoretically, are still in the prime of their careers. If they can reinvent themselves in the V-League, hopefully Kim Sang-Sik can also find a fresh perspective for them in the national team. Russia and Thailand are two tests that will allow Kim to fully demonstrate his capabilities in preparation for the ASEAN Cup at the end of the year.

Kim's selection of players, along with the stability of the V-League, could be the beginning of a new approach to Vietnamese football, where the foundation of the national team and prospects for success are based on what we gain from the V-League. Now, we can only hope that fans will enjoy watching the V-League more so that the league has the motivation to improve further.

Of course, it's also necessary for Coach Kim Sang Sik's team to perform well in the two upcoming friendly matches. To date, there is still considerable debate about Coach Troussier's approach during his more than a year in charge.

We once hoped to rejuvenate the team and change the playing style, but ultimately failed to meet expectations. So, wouldn't it be better to return to selecting players in top form and seeking success based on character and experience?

That's something Vietnamese football has been struggling with for over a year now.

3.Talking about football also serves to address the current state of Vietnamese sports after unsuccessful attempts at high-level competitions like the Asian Games or the Olympics. Although we achieved some notable successes in those major events, we lacked consistency due to a lack of fundamental elements.

Football (soccer) is a pioneer in professionalization, with strong appeal, good revenue, and even television broadcasting rights. But as we've seen, even with more achievements than other sports, the process of reaching continental and world-class levels remains arduous and challenging for football.

Clearly, there are no easy paths or shortcuts that can be taken forever. With the team currently under coach Kim Sang Sik, simply replicating the achievements of his compatriot Park Hang Seo is extremely difficult, let alone reaching the top 10 in Asia, a goal we had set as a strategic objective for 2030. And without reaching the top 10, the dream of the World Cup remains a long way off.

Is this perhaps the necessary approach for Vietnamese sports at this time? That is, more perseverance is needed alongside dreams. More groundbreaking approaches are needed to build a solid foundation before even thinking about world-class victories. More stadiums and sports arenas with large crowds at domestic matches are needed to generate more investment resources.