V-League 2017: Unpredictable and cruel

(Baonghean.vn) - The season ended with Quang Nam winning the championship. This is the 7th teamAfter Song Lam Nghe An, Saigon Port, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, (Dong Tam) Long An, B.Binh Duong, Da Nang and Hanoi (T&T) received this honor.

After 5 years of “wandering” after Da Nang’s coronation in 2012, the National Football Championship Cup has just returned to the Central region with Dinh Thanh Trung and his teammates. A thrilling tournament until the last minute determined who among the 3 names Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam would be the champion.

Central Cup

For the first time in its history, Quang Nam won the V-League national championship, more impressively when they lifted the championship cup on the 20th anniversary of its establishment. This is also the second consecutive season that the V-League championship is determined by the secondary index when the two leading teams have the same points.

Quang Nam - V.League 2017 champion. Photo: Internet

If last year Hanoi Club was above Hai Phong due to better goal difference when both sides had 50 points, this year Quang Nam won the championship because they were better than Thanh Hoa in terms of head-to-head record when both sides had 48 points.

Striker Anh Duc of B.Binh Duong won the Toyota V.League 2017 Golden Boot with a total of 17 goals. The 32-year-old striker has won the Golden Boot for the first time in his career. Anh Duc also officially surpassed the record of 16 goals of Le Van Thang (FLC Thanh Hoa) to become the domestic striker who scored the most goals in a V.League season.

More impressively, this striker became the first Vietnamese player in 15 years to win the Golden Boot - a title that has been dominated by foreign players and naturalized strikers.

“Anh Tu V.League” is the title given to Than Quang Ninh. Somehow, Than Quang Ninh is very lucky with the fourth position because this is the third consecutive season they have this position with an average score of 43. The management has changed the head coach to improve the performance but luckily, everything is still at a standstill. They must have waited for more luck!

The rich also cry

Coach Petrovic - who won the European Cup C1, after leading FLC Thanh Hoa to the runner-up position in V.League 2017, decided to say goodbye to the Thanh team after a year of association. It seems that the old Serbian coach was too tired, sometimes feeling stuck when participating in V-League.

Previously, Mr. Alain Fiard - Coach of Ho Chi Minh City Club had to leave the team before 2 rounds due to the team's poor performance. It seems that V.League is not a suitable playground for foreign coaches, although in terms of expertise, achievements and qualifications, they are all a few levels higher than Vietnamese coaches.

FLC Thanh Hoa and Ho Chi Minh City Club are "rich guys", it's true that they don't spare any money to bring in good coaches and good players, but how to get the Cup has been a struggle for years.

Anh Duc - Top scorer with 17 goals in V.League 2017. Photo: Internet

Controversy surrounding the "black shirt kings"

Referees continue to be considered the weakest link in the V.League, even though Vietnamese football has become more professional. Although the tournament organizers and the Referee Board have done their best to prevent Mr. Nguyen Van Mui, the head of the referee board, from assigning tasks to the “black-shirted kings”, and have continuously issued official dispatches to remind and discipline this team.

But there was no round, no team that did not complain, complain about the referees, (although there were also some unjust complaints) and in the end, the Organizing Committee still had to hire foreign referees for the key matches at the end of the season. Even though referee Pummarin Khamruen, before coming to Vietnam, was also "involved" in a match-fixing scandal in the Thai League. So funny!

The “collective freeze” incident at Thong Nhat Stadium, the match between the home team Ho Chi Minh City and Long An is considered the worst scandal in the history of V.League. The ban from practice for Chairman Vo Thanh Nhiem, Coach Quang Sang, Captain Quang, goalkeeper Minh Nhut, along with the club’s fine of up to 100 million VND, and the warning for the team cannot completely erase the bad reputation of Vietnamese football.

The fierce reactions and rude words directed at referee Nguyen Trong Thu by Long An officials, coaches and players, especially the act of turning his back when the opponent took a penalty kick in the 82nd minute and the somersaulting to tease the opponent to score in the next situation by goalkeeper Nguyen Minh Nhut were simultaneously published by foreign press.

In addition to the two foreign coaches, three domestic coaches have said goodbye to their teams. When the curtain falls on V.League 2017, the clubs will close their doors to analyze the season and the number of coaches losing their jobs will not stop there. The Vietnamese football field is unpredictable and contains too many surprises and cruelties!

An Thanh