Is the "Fire Pan of Vinh City" still sacred?

Vinh Stadium used to be the “invincible” base of the yellow-shirted army. However, that “fire pot” is gradually losing its sacredness as SLNA’s home record is getting worse. The victories are getting less and less frequent, replaced by more and more difficult matches with draws and losses.

Glorious past!

It can be said that few teams have a glorious past like SLNA with 10 major titles won by the first team. Among them, there are 3 times winning the National Championship, 3 times winning the National Cup and 4 times winning the National Super Cup. To have these achievements, it is impossible not to mention a very important factor: Vinh Stadium.

Even when facing a “life-threatening” situation due to being abandoned by their sponsors, the yellow-shirted team still fought hard to achieve good results at home. The most typical example was the 2009 season. At that time, the budget was not enough for the team to cover the entire long season with so many expenses.

The glorious victories at Vinh Stadium contributed significantly to SLNA's prosperous period. Photo: Archive

However, coach Nguyen Van Thinh’s team did not disappoint the love of their fans. They fought not only for their traditional colors and brands, but more importantly, to “keep the fire burning” for Vinh city.

Looking back to the past, we can see that, that season, despite losing many tough matches away from home, SLNA always knew how to turn Vinh Stadium into a solid base. The 3 lucky teams to get 1 point from Vinh Stadium were Khanh Hoa, The Cong and HCM, the rest all lost with conviction.

Among them, the team that has been dominating the recent seasons – FLC Thanh Hoa, suffered the most serious damage when they were defeated by the home team with a score of 5-1. They finished the season in 3rd place with the “miracle” of being unbeaten at home when they had a series of 10 consecutive wins after 3 draws in the first 3 rounds.

In the 2011 season, although the home record was not as impressive as the 2009 season, the “fire” in Vinh city was still an extremely important factor on SLNA’s path to the championship. That year, coach Huu Thang and his team also had 10 wins but lost only 1 match in the reception of Binh Duong and drew 2 matches.

But all those sweet flavors have faded in direct proportion to the achievements of each season, in the financial shortage and the "talent drain" of SLNA. The audience coming to the stadium has also gradually decreased, the "fire" in each player has also decreased and Vinh stadium has gradually lost its sacredness when those things no longer exist.

Harsh reality!

It can be said that in any sport, especially football, home field always brings many advantages to the team. Unfortunately, SLNA has not been able to do that in recent seasons.

In the 2016 season, coach Quang Truong and his team only won 7 matches, drew 2 matches and lost 4 matches. When SLNA changed their coach, coach Duc Thang took over, their performance was not much better, only winning 18 points at Vinh Stadium, with 4 matches enjoying complete joy, 6 matches having to share points and 3 matches empty-handed.

If we compare the points gained in the first 3 rounds of this season with the 2009 season, it is not a cause for concern as the difference is only 1 point. However, if we look at the head-to-head record with specific opponents this season compared to previous seasons, it is a cause for concern.

Despite their best efforts, Van Duc and Xuan Manh - the U23 duo - have yet to help SLNA win at home this season. Photo: Duc Anh

The previous “unconvincing” opponents, specifically the 3 teams that visited Vinh Stadium this season, all caused SLNA a lot of difficulties at Vinh Stadium. Among them, S. Khanh Hoa took 7 points in the last 3 visits to Vinh Stadium. The two losers in the 2016 season, Than Quang Ninh and B. Binh Duong, also forced the home team to share points this season.

It is worth mentioning that in all 3 recent home matches, SLNA played better, continuously pressuring the opponent with many dangerous attacks. However, in some matches, the attack was successful but the defense was weak, in some matches, the strikers were unlucky, and in some matches, they were hit by "counterattacks".

This afternoon, SLNA will host Nam Dinh at Vinh Stadium - an opponent considered to be weaker, and many people are hoping that the home team will get 3 points. However, with a squad that is seriously damaged by injuries, no one is sure that SLNA will be strong enough to defeat the weakest opponent in the V-League at the moment.

It seems that regaining the prestige and "sacredness" of Vinh Stadium at this time is not easy at all.