Unforgettable events of Vietnamese football in 2016

It is undeniable that the past year was truly memorable in terms of the success of Vietnamese football. However, that does not mean that there are no unforgettable events that the King sport in the S-shaped strip of land has brought to its fans.

1. The failure of the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup 2016

In fact, reaching the semi-finals is not too bad compared to the tournament 2 years ago under coach Miura. However, giving up the ticket to the final to Indonesia is really very forgettable.

What is worth forgetting is that coach Huu Thang's team could have completely defeated Indonesia when the opponent's ability was equal to, or even worse than, the Vietnamese team.

However, Nguyen Manh's red card and a series of mistakes from the defense robbed Vietnam of a ticket to the final after losing the first leg and drawing the second leg.

2. V-League referees are still very...boring

The 2017 V-League season ended happily with the third championship of HN.T&T, but the highlights from the intense race of the tournament could not erase the dark spots from the referees.

Not as terrible as many years ago when a series of referees fell into legal trouble, but the way the king of the field Ha Anh Chien blew the penalty "to help" Thanh Hoa in round 8 or the way referees Phung Dinh Dung, Nguyen Hien Triet... handled it made the tournament suffer, as well as lost a lot of trust.

3. The First Division has only 7 teams left

Right before the new season is about to start in early 2017, a piece of news that saddens many domestic football fans is that the First Division has only 7 participating teams.

This number is actually not less than last season, but clearly the way the teams won the right to play in the V-League's adjacent tournament and declared "no" to the First Division is really quite sad and forgettable.

Because in reality, everyone understands that the core of a strong football foundation must be built step by step, from grassroots to professional. However, the First Division "shrinking" every season is making football leaders worry about...V-League.

4. Cong Phuong "sinks" despite high expectations

Among the names that fans expected the most in Vietnamese football last year, as usual Cong Phuong was ranked number 1.

However, this talented striker had a really unhappy year when he played unsuccessfully in J-League II as well as in the national team.

Not only that, not playing regularly also makes Cong Phuong's performance very low even when playing in youth tournaments like the U21 international tournament that just ended at the end of this year.

5. V-League price drops

After 5 years of organizing the highest tournament of Vietnamese football, V-League has never been as disastrous in terms of audience as the 2016 season when an average of just over 6,000 spectators came to each match.

There are many reasons why "gods" turn their backs on domestic football, but one of the main reasons is that VPF has not been able to control the tournament, causing the V-League to falter many times.

One of the "impressions" of last season's V-League was the fact that the organizer, VPF, sent an official letter of apology to SLNA, after the incident of referee Ha Anh Chien on Thanh Hoa field in round 8./.

According to VietnamPlus