Vietnamese football makes its mark at the 'fiery cauldron' Thiên Trường Stadium

Nearly 20,000 spectators packed the fiery cauldron Thiên Trường, an uncommon occurrence even at the football field often referred to as the "capital" of V-League.

Recalling 2017, during a National First Division match between host Nam Định and Đồng Tháp (Nam Định lost 0-4), the stadium, once the pride of Nam city, resembled an unfinished plowed field; the roof of stand A was riddled with holes after a storm. This was the consequence of Nam Định spending a long period competing only in the lower-tier leagues of Vietnamese football.

Under the guidance of coach Nguyễn Văn Sỹ, a native son and a legend of Nam Định football, the Nam city team unexpectedly promoted to V-League 2018. And the match against HAGL in their first V-League season after nearly 10 years recorded a record-breaking spectator turnout: Over 25,000 people. Someone fainted that day and a child required urgent emergency care, despite local organizers advising against bringing children to the stadium.

A sea of people returned to Thiên Trường for the match welcoming Malaysia. The red flag with a yellow star and the traditional red shirts naturally dominated the stands. Yet there was a sense that spectators were more focused on watching the football itself, rather than creating a continuous cheering atmosphere throughout the match.

The four stands of Thiên Trường truly heated up only after the goals by Duy Mạnh (first half) and Xuân Son's brace in the second half. Otherwise, it remained quite quiet.

The starting lineup of the Vietnamese national team in this match can be considered optimal. With Quang Hải - Hoàng Đức - Hoàng Hên - Xuân Son, we possess the best attacking quartet in history since reintegration. Tremendous pressure was created against Malaysia's goal, and scoring only three goals was deemed too few. However, the crucial point is that key striker Nguyễn Xuân Son scored again. Not just one goal, but a brace.

Hoàng Hên launched, Xuân Son received, Hoàng Đức and Quang Hải also had excellent moments, from maintaining rhythm, distributing the ball to approaching the opponent's goal with decisive moves. Among these, Hoàng Đức's shot from beyond 30 meters that hit the crossbar in the first half must be mentioned. Among purely domestic players, besides Hoàng Đức, only Văn Hậu has the capability to unleash such powerful shots from over 30 meters. However, in this match, Hậu played purely as a center-back, as the left flank was assigned to Quang Vinh.

Returning to Thiên Trường. The fiery cauldron and capital of V-League for many years remains distinctly unique. This very place launched the Nam city team to win V-League consecutively for two seasons (2024-2025). Regardless of Nam Định not maintaining high performance this season, Thiên Trường remains the most crowded stadium in V-League every weekend afternoon.

Thank you to Mr. Kim's boys and thank you to the Nam city football fans. It's hard to find such a sea of people for a football match elsewhere as at Thiên Trường.