Nam Dinh Steel faces a season without trophies

The 1-3 defeat to Gamba Osaka on October 22 not only cost Nam Dinh Steel Club the opportunity to fight for the top spot in Group F of the AFC Champions League Two 2025/26 but also revealed many problems regarding personnel, tactics, and ambitions. This may be a critical moment forcing Coach Vu Hong Viet and the club’s leadership to conduct a comprehensive review to avoid a completely failed season in both the V-League and the AFC Champions League Two.

Gamba Osaka started with only one foreign player, striker Jebali. The rest were all local players, but their playing quality made viewers realize the significant gap in football standards between Japan and Vietnam still remains quite large.