V-League 2018: 'Death curve' tests the mettle of rookie Nam Dinh
(Baonghean.vn) - If the championship is in the hands of coach Chu Dinh Nghiem and his team, the escape from the relegation position of V-League 2018 is associated with 4 names: TP HCM, Saigon, Nam Dinh and XSKT.Can Tho. The biggest gap between them is only 4 points and Nam Dinh and XSKT.Can Tho are the 2 names mentioned most.
After 9 years away, rookie Nam Dinh encountered many difficulties in their first return to their old home - V-League. The bottom position of the table often belonged to coach Nguyen Van Sy and his team and the people of Thanh Nam were always worried about their beloved team.
poor family
As a rookie team, coach Nguyen Van Sy does not have the money to buy good foreign players or domestic players. It is not surprising that Nam Dinh is the only team in the V-League that almost does not participate in the transfer market.
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| Thien Truong Stadium was bustling from the second leg. Photo: Internet |
Goalkeeper Minh Nhut and Quoc Thien are the only two players who came to Thien Truong Stadium on a “cheap” basis. Minh Nhut is a goalkeeper who is currently suspended, while naturalized player Quoc Thien is unemployed. The brightest star with the most experience in the V-League of the team from Thanh Nam is coach Nguyen Van Sy. But when “one small swallow does not make a spring”, Nam Dinh is always at the bottom of the rankings.
It was not until Romario and Pereira Diogo came to Thien Truong Stadium, and players Minh Tuan and Sy Minh played with increasing improvement, that Nam Dinh's results improved a little. The 2-1 home win over Ho Chi Minh City, the 4-2 home win over SHB.Da Nang, or the regrettable 3-3 draw with Hanoi FC away... helped coach Nguyen Van Sy and his team keep up with the teams in the same group.
With the support of the audience, the team's spirit is rising after a series of breakthrough matches recently. What the Nam Dinh coaching board is very happy about is the impressive performance of new player Pereira Diogo Junior when he scored 6 goals despite only returning to Thien Truong Stadium from the second leg.
The curve of death
According to the schedule, Nam Dinh will have 6 more matches, including S.Khanh Hoa (home); FLC Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong (away); HAGL, B.Binh Duong (home) and finally XSKT.Can Tho (away). A challenging schedule, 3 away matches are all decisive matches for relegation. Especially the "reverse final" match with the home team XSKT.Can Tho, will be the most important match of the season.
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| The remaining 6 rounds are actually an opportunity and a challenge to the mettle of the team from Thanh Nam. Photo: Internet |
Among the 4 teams at the bottom of the rankings, Ho Chi Minh City and Saigon are rated higher due to the professional level of their players. The newly added foreign and domestic players are all quality players, so Coach Miura and Coach Thanh Cong will easily defect soon.
Nam Dinh’s path to relegation became more difficult when “wizard” Vu Quang Bao appeared at Can Tho Stadium. Western football was almost completely absent from the map of top Vietnamese football when An Giang (2014), Dong Thap (2016), Long An (2017) were eliminated.
Now, the people of Can Tho do not want that to happen again and have no other choice but to invite the "wizard" from Nghe An to lead the team, the person who last year the Tay Do fans hung banners asking to leave.
With only 1 point difference, the match between Nam Dinh and SXKT.Can Tho will be extremely tense. Coach Nguyen Van Sy and his team will try their best in 3 home matches against not-so-strong opponents S.Khanh Hoa, HAGL, B.Binh Duong to maintain a fragile 1 point gap before the match with SXKT.Can Tho. In addition, Nam Dinh must also know how to seize opportunities to surpass Ho Chi Minh City and Saigon.
The remaining 6 rounds are actually an opportunity and a test of the mettle of the Nam Dinh team. Because of the trust of thousands of Nam Dinh fans, they have no choice but to fight for honor and the opportunity will only come if they put their heart and soul into the field.