A 'clash' worth watching at Go Dau Stadium

An interesting detail about the search for the “new king” of this year’s National Cup (after Dong A Thanh Hoa was eliminated by Hai Phong at home in the previous round): There are up to 5 teams with the opportunity to make history in the tournament if they win the championship. Among them, 2 representatives are playing in the First Division, Phu Dong Ninh Binh and Dong Thap, while the remaining 3 names (not counting the teams that won the National Cup, Binh Duong, Song Lam Nghe An and Hai Phong) are all in the V.League, namely Cong An Ha Noi, The Cong and Hoang Anh Gia Lai.

The earliest match of the quarter-finals will take place on Saturday (March 29) at Go Dau Stadium, where Becamex Binh Duong will face Phu Dong Ninh Binh. A team in the top 5 of V.League facing a team holding the sole position (11 wins) in the First Division will certainly be extremely unpredictable and exciting, especially when Binh Duong will only be allowed to use domestic players in this match.

This detail needs to be emphasized, because to achieve such a feat, Ninh Binh had a "revolution" in personnel this season with the addition of many quality players, from last season's Golden Ball winner Nguyen Hoang Duc, goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, striker Dinh Thanh Binh, defenders Do Thanh Thinh, Nguyen Huu Tuan, Do Van Thuan... - all elite soldiers that many teams in the V.League also crave.

In this year’s National Cup, Ninh Binh defeated two opponents (HCMC and Ba Ria Vung Tau) both by penalty shootouts. However, Binh Duong – the team that won the National Cup most recently and is still in the quarter-finals this year – is a different opponent. It is also interesting that Binh Duong defeated Binh Dinh and Nam Dinh, both by penalty shootouts.

Although they will not be allowed to use foreign players, the team from the land of Thu is still strong with a squad of domestic stars such as Tien Linh, Ngoc Hai, Tan Tai, Duc Chinh, Minh Khoa, Vi Hao, Hai Huy, Minh Trong, Xuan Tu and Trung Hieu. Therefore, if they also set high goals in the National Cup, then in a comprehensive view, Binh Duong will still be considered slightly better than Ninh Binh in this match that promises to be very attractive.

The next 2 matches will be held on March 30.

At Vinh Stadium, Song Lam Nghe An – the team that defeated Da Nang with a minimum score of 1-0 in the previous round faced Dong Thap – an interesting phenomenon of this season. Just in the round of 16, the representative from the Mekong Delta created an earthquake when forcing Hanoi FC – the team that has won the National Cup 3 times – to sadly leave the tournament in a nerve-wracking penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw in the official 90 minutes.

However, if put on the "scale", the quality of the squad of Song Lam Nghe An - one of the leading "training centers" of Vietnamese football for nearly half a century - is certainly still more "trusted" by many people than the opponent from the First Division.

Meanwhile, the match between The Cong Viettel and Hoang Anh Gia Lai at My Dinh Stadium is also expected to have high professional quality when both teams can use their strongest force. Both teams have overcome the "candidate" teams in the First Division in the round of 16: The Cong defeated PVF CAND 2-0 and Hoang Anh Gia Lai had to use the penalty shootout against Truong Tuoi Binh Phuoc after a 1-1 draw in the 2 official halves.

In terms of performance in both the National Cup and V.League (The Cong is temporarily ranked 2nd and Hoang Anh Gia Lai is ranked 11th), The Cong can be rated higher. In particular, in the first leg of the V.League also at My Dinh Stadium, The Cong won 2-1.

The latest quarter-final match will take place on April 22 at Lach Tray Stadium between Hai Phong and Hanoi Police.

Tuan Ngoc

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/cuoc-dung-do-dang-xem-tren-san-go-dau-post543855.html