Thai newspaper disappointed with home team, praises the strength of Nam Dinh Green Steel

Khaosod wrote: “The first half started with the home team Nam Dinh FC taking control of the game. They dominated the game, forcing Ratchaburi to retreat to defense. The Thai club waited for a counterattack but could not create a scoring opportunity against the opponent's solid system. In the 35th minute, the home team's fans cheered when Caio Cesar put the ball into the net, helping Nam Dinh FC lead Ratchaburi FC 1-0.

The second half saw a more dominant game with two goals in just the first 15 minutes. The match ended with a 3-1 home win over Ratchaburi FC, bringing home three points for the Vietnamese team while the Thai club returned empty-handed.

As the Thai publication commented, Nam Dinh overwhelmed their opponents with the excellence of their foreign players including Percy Tau, Caio Cesar and Brenner... With 10 "mercenaries" in the starting lineup, Nam Dinh had no difficulty dominating the game against Ratchaburi with only 6 foreign players.

Even their domestic players are not of high quality except for Jonathan Khemdee who regularly plays for the national team. With 13 times being attacked, including 7 times on target (more than 3 times the number of shots Ratchaburi created), it is clear that the 1-3 loss is still a lucky result for the Thai representative. This defeat puts Ratchaburi at a disadvantage in the race to advance to the next round because their group also has a much stronger Gamba Osaka.

Matichon newspaper described the home club's performance as "disappointing". The publication wrote: "Ratchaburi could not resist the pressure from Nam Dinh. Ratchaburi FC lost 1-3 to Nam Dinh in the opening match of the Cup C2 campaign, a disappointing start", Matichon wrote.

Siamsport also highlighted the pressure from the defending champion LPBank V.League 1. This publication commented: "The match started when the home team Nam Dinh FC attacked more and controlled the ball more. By the 35th minute, they had materialized the pressure. The second half started in the 52nd minute when Brenner scored a goal to make it 2-0 before continuing to score another goal, bringing the score to 3-0 for Nam Dinh FC. Ratchaburi only had time to score an honorary goal before leaving Vietnam empty-handed."