Overseas Vietnamese from France shine, the 'tower' plays extremely well: Nam Dinh Club comes from behind to defeat Hai Phong

Nam Dinh Club started slowly

The match against away team Hai Phong at home ground Thien Truong in round 1 of V-League 2025 - 2026 (6:00 p.m. on August 16) is considered a tough challenge for Nam Dinh Club.

Although coach Chu Dinh Nghiem’s Hai Phong Club is not a championship candidate, it is a tough and hard-to-beat team. Last season, with a patchwork squad, Hai Phong Club was in the relegation group throughout the first half, then accelerated strongly in the second half to finish 6th overall.

Việt kiều Pháp tỏa sáng, ‘tòa tháp’ chơi cực hay: CLB Nam Định ngược dòng đánh bại Hải Phòng- Ảnh 1. — Nam Dinh Club (white shirt) faced difficulties against the disciplined and tight tactics of the visiting team Hai Phong.

The unpredictability of Hai Phong FC was shown in the match against the home team Nam Dinh. With a defensive counter-attacking style of play, fierce high pressing and smooth passing, Mr. Chu Dinh Nghiem's students made Nam Dinh FC deadlocked throughout the first half. The Hai Phong team did not attack much, but sharply and directly thanks to the ability of Luiz Antonio, a foreign player who played quite well last season at Thanh Hoa FC.

The stalemate was broken in the 32nd minute thanks to Luiz Antonio himself. From a smooth and flexible cross-field pass from Hai Phong, the ball was flipped to Antonio for a powerful cross-angle header, defeating goalkeeper Nguyen Manh.

After conceding the goal, Nam Dinh Club accelerated to put pressure. However, facing a tight and determined defense led by goalkeeper Dinh Trieu and mainstay center-back Tien Dung, Hai Phong blocked Nam Dinh's strikers well. The home team could only turn the ball over from the two wings, allowing strikers with good physique to rush in and head the ball. However, in the first half of the match, this approach of Nam Dinh Club could not trouble the defense of the visiting team Hai Phong.

The challenge is even more complicated for Nam Dinh Club, when central midfielder Tuan Anh left the field due to injury, leading to the midfield losing its smoothness.

Hero Kevin Pham Ba

In the second half, Nam Dinh Club increased the pressure, but Hai Phong also actively pressed to prevent the opponent from developing the ball, instead of retreating deep to defend passively.

Việt kiều Pháp tỏa sáng, ‘tòa tháp’ chơi cực hay: CLB Nam Định ngược dòng đánh bại Hải Phòng- Ảnh 2. — Nam Dinh's 2.06 m tall player

Việt kiều Pháp tỏa sáng, ‘tòa tháp’ chơi cực hay: CLB Nam Định ngược dòng đánh bại Hải Phòng- Ảnh 3. — Special celebration of the home team

Pressure from Nam Dinh's two wings exchanged for an equalizer in the 68th minute. In the situation of a long ball heading towards the penalty area, striker Kyle Hudlin (2.06 m tall) fought fiercely against the pressure of two Hai Phong defenders. Despite being closely marked, Hudlin still managed to pass the ball to midfielder Hoang Anh, creating conditions for his teammate to rush in and shoot past goalkeeper Dinh Trieu.

Coach Vu Hong Viet's decision to bring Hudlin onto the field has been extremely effective. Only when there was a tower over 2 meters high on the field, did the home team Nam Dinh's crosses find a reliable "address".

Nam Dinh FC pressed the field in the final minutes and reaped sweet rewards. In the 88th minute, Kyle Hudlin headed the ball into the wall for Marlos Brenner to run down. With a turn, Brenner eliminated the Hai Phong defender and then curled the ball. Goalkeeper Dinh Trieu pushed the ball right into the path of Kevin Pham Ba, who rushed in, and with a precise close-range finish, the defender of Vietnamese-French blood helped the home team Nam Dinh complete the comeback to win 2-1.

Initially, referee Nguyen Trung Kien received advice from VAR, that Brenner may have let the ball touch his hand before finishing. However, when reviewing the slow-motion replay for 4 minutes, the referee thought that the ball touched the junction between Brenner's chest and shoulder. The goal was recognized, helping Nam Dinh FC take all 3 points on the opening day.

Overcoming Hai Phong Club, defending champion Nam Dinh started V-League with a victory.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-kieu-phap-toa-sang-toa-thap-choi-cuc-hay-clb-nam-dinh-nguoc-dong-danh-bai-hai-phong-185250816174329166.htm