Thanh Hoa's Departure: From 18 Men to a Big Dream

On the morning of September 4, in Thanh Hoa, a departure ceremony took place in an atmosphere full of promise. New Chairman Le Xuan Tuong, the businessman behind T-Group and Thang Long Instruments Joint Stock Company, stood beside head coach Mai Xuan Hop. Two men, two generations, but sharing the same goal: to lift Thanh Hoa out of the V-League's lower depths. Thanh Hoa fans still remember last season, when their team had only 18 players and struggled to survive relegation. Today, that number is 31 – 26 domestic players, 4 foreigners, and 1 overseas Vietnamese. This change is not just a number; it is a promise to the stands. The 2026/26 season is a scar Thanh Hoa carries with them. With 18 players, the team lived in a state of shortage – short on players, short on pressure, short on belief. They finished 11th – a result many called a miracle, but for those who followed the team closely, it was the product of resilience and a calculated defensive-counterattacking strategy. Head coach Mai Xuan Hop, the man who kept the ship from sinking, now has more ingredients to cook a different dish. The question is: will he dare to change the formula that kept the team alive? The arrival of four foreign players is a clear signal of ambition. Two midfielders – Abdurakhmanov from Uzbekistan and Lovric Di Mateo – along with two strikers – Monteiro Martins (Brazil) and Guindo – indicate an attacking orientation. No foreign center-back, no foreign goalkeeper. This means the creative and scoring burden is placed on the imports. This is a familiar pattern in the V-League, where foreign players are typically used in positions that can make the biggest difference. But this also exposes a potential weakness: the defense relies entirely on domestic players, and if they cannot withstand tall, physical foreign strikers, Thanh Hoa could pay the price. The use of the overseas Vietnamese slot for a Laos international – Damoth Thongkhamsavath – is a smart roster-management move. V-League regulations allow clubs to register overseas Vietnamese players outside the foreign quota. Using this slot for a player representing Laos shows that Thanh Hoa's recruitment department understands the regulations well and knows how to maximize limited resources. This is a competitive advantage not every club fully exploits. But what truly makes me think, as I sit writing these lines, is not the number 31 or the 4 foreigners. It is the story of survival. Last season, I witnessed teams with full squads collapse due to lack of spirit. Thanh Hoa was the opposite – they lacked players but not belief. The bond among the domestic players, who fought together in scarcity, is an intangible asset no transfer market can measure. Retaining key players like goalkeeper Nguyen Thanh Diep, Vu Tuyen Quang, Van Thang, Xuan Hung, Tung Han, Tuan Canh, Duc Hoang shows the leadership understands the value of stability. However, there is a paradox I want to expose. Expanding the squad from 18 to 31 players could be a double-edged sword. Last season, with 18 players, Mai Xuan Hop was forced to rotate minimally, creating a tightly-knit collective that understood each other's every move. Now, with 31 players, he has more options, but also faces a difficult problem: how to integrate 12 new faces without breaking the existing cohesion? In football, sometimes having more people doesn't mean having more strength. It can create chaos if not managed well. I remember a saying from an old football sage who once taught me: 'The strongest team is not the one with the most stars, but the one that knows how to make ordinary people extraordinary.' Last season, Thanh Hoa did exactly that. The question for this season is: can they do it again, with a larger squad and higher expectations? The opening match against SHB Da Nang at home on September 6 will be the first test. SHB Da Nang is not an overly strong opponent, but not an easy one either. A win would ignite the flame of optimism. A draw might be acceptable. But a defeat would immediately extinguish the excitement of the departure ceremony. Vietnamese football has a habit: we love fairy tales, but we are also very quick to turn our backs on losers. As for the ambition in the National Cup, I think it is a respectable but somewhat unrealistic goal. A team that just went through a crisis season, with a squad nearly half new, can hardly compete on two fronts with the same quality. However, that ambition itself is what makes football attractive. If you don't dare to dream, why play at all? I want to end with a small story. In 2026, when I was commentating on the World Cup quarterfinal between France and Uruguay, I witnessed Diego Godin sitting on the pitch, tears streaming down his face. I told the audience that this tear was heavier than the ball itself, because it carried 12 years of waiting for an entire generation. Football is not read by the score, but by the heartbeat of the hearts in the stands. For Thanh Hoa fans, this season is not just a season. It is the answer to a question they have been asking themselves for a year: can our team stand up and walk on their own two feet? When the pitch no longer hears the roar, we can finally hear the sigh of football. And when the ball rolls on Thanh Hoa's pitch on September 6, I will listen carefully. Is it a sigh of relief, or the roar of a collective hungry for victory?