FLC Thanh Hoa - TP HCM: The most worth-watching match of the first leg of V-League 2018

Vietnamese football fans still believe that the confrontation betweenCoach Marian Mihail vs Coach Miura is the “most worth-watching match in the Gulf of Tonkin”. The massive selection of coaches and players by these two teams makes their “billion-dollar” confrontation highly anticipated by the audience, the press and experts.

Confrontation of ambitions

Hoang Thinh has returned after injury. Photo: Internet

Runner-up of the 2017 season, FLC Thanh Hoa, aims to win the championship this season. As one of the clubs that has changed both domestic and foreign players and coaches, the Thanh team is clearly showing its ambition. Entering the season, FLC Thanh Hoa has been quite generous in shopping to strengthen its strength with prominent names such as Van Nam (Nam Dinh), Xuan Thanh (B.Binh Duong), Quang Vinh (HCMC), Buu Ngoc (XSKT Can Tho), Minh Tung, Van Hieu and especially national player Minh Tuan (Than Quang Ninh).

Regarding foreign players, the Thanh Hoa team signed a contract with Eward Ofere to replace Uche and brought to Thanh Hoa midfielder Ryutaro Karube who used to play in J-League 2. Not only that, on the coaching bench, the Thanh Hoa leadership ended the contract with former C1 Cup champion - Coach Petrovic to sign a contract with Coach Marian Mihail (Romania). With what they have done in the transfer market, FLC Thanh Hoa shows their great ambition in V-League 2018. The Thanh Hoa team is considered the brightest candidate for the V-League 2018 championship.

FLC Thanh Hoa's midfield this year is considered the strongest in V-League due to the presence of 3 national players and foreign player Karube. The wings are Minh Tuan, Trong Hoang, the central midfielder pair is Karube, Hoang Thinh, the duo Hoang Thinh, Trong Hoang have trained and fought for many years in SLNA's shirt.

The rich guy

Coach Miura and fitness assistant Martin Forkel are a perfect pair for Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Internet

Ho Chi Minh City Club is considered an unknown with the appearance of Coach Miura and with 2 other quite heavyweight members of the coaching staff including assistant goalkeeper Vo Van Hanh and fitness assistant Martin Forkel. This duo has worked for the Vietnam national team for a long time and is highly appreciated.

After releasing 13 players, the acting president of Ho Chi Minh City Club has officially brought to Thong Nhat Stadium some notable names such as Phi Son, striker Hai Anh or defender Sam Ngoc Duc. Not only recruiting Gonzalo, the team is also promoting to turn the Argentine player into a "domestic player" while completing the necessary procedures to naturalize the striker who scored 30 goals in V-League.

The forward line consists of Gustavo, Gonzalo behind the central midfielders Tavares, Van Thuan with the support of Phi Son on the right wing and Van Thanh on the left wing is considered to be diverse in attack. Up to now, very few V-League teams have used 3 foreign players for the attack line like TP HCM, clearly Cong Vinh wants to rebuild a new style of play for this ambitious team. When the central defender pair Ngoc Thinh, Dinh Luat and the 2 wings Van Hoan, Ngoc Duc have been trusted by Coach Miura, TP HCM wants to prioritize the attack line.

Although Cong Vinh has never once declared his ambition to win the 2018 V-League, people do not think that Ho Chi Minh City FC spent a lot of money just to have a good squad. This is the opening match of the season for both teams, so no one wants to go home empty-handed, whether the away team or the home team.

Stories of Nghe people

There will be a battle between old and new players of SLNA. Photo: Internet

For Nghe An audiences, the names Hoang Thinh, Trong Hoang, Dinh Dong of FLC Thanh Hoa or Phi Son, Dinh Luat, Van Hoan, Ngoc Duc of Ho Chi Minh City are always the pride of Nghe An fans. Although they work hard to make a living on the football field all over the country, in real life, they are always brothers and confrontations like Phi Son - Ngoc Duc, or Hoang Thinh - Dinh Luat will promise to be interesting.

Having trained and lived together for many years at SLNA, the players of both teams are familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Even the trio of “carriage-cannon-horse” Hoang Thinh, Trong Hoang, and Au Van Hoan have known how to combine together in the B.Binh Duong shirt to “elevate the value” of each other.

This is a match worth watching both professionally, for brand and internal reasons. Comparing the balance of power as above makes it harder to predict the final result, so perhaps anyone who loves a team will hope their team gets 3 points.