With just one week left to Viet Nam's top-tier V-League 2021 which will kick off on 15 January, participating football clubs across Viet Nam are attempting to build up players’ fitness as well as get used to playing friendly matches in a preparation for a new season.

SHB DN’s freshly-recruited striker Rafaelson

This year’s league is well to be 'worth the wait' as it promises to deliver all the excitement and drama that football fans have come to expect.

Defending champions Viettel and former champions Ha Noi FC are shining brightest in the championship race. Meanwhile, the remaining clubs have aggressively spent hundreds of billions of VND to make their best preparations for the league.

The transfer of players in transfer windows late last year, plus the interesting changes in football clubs’ coaching boards, are promising to create a much more exciting and vibrant sporting atmosphere than previous years.

In addition to learning valuable lessons from the previous season, better preparations have been made for SHB DN.

To develop their squad, SHB DN have already signed contracts with several foreign and domestic footballers. Included are midfielder Janclesio Almeida Santos, and strikers Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes and Hedipo Gustavo, all from Brazil. Other freshly-signed domestic players are central midfielders Ngoc Thinh and Huy Hung.

Most recently, SHB DN were crowned champions at the Thien Long Cup Tournament 2020. The championship title will create more motivation for Da Nang football team to enter new league with necessary excitement.

After dropping the championship title 2020 to rivals Viettel FC, Ha Noi FC have quickly realised the reasons that forced them to lose points regardless of their strongest squad in the season.

Late last year, Ha Noi FC inked contracts with Brazilian strikers Bruno Cunha Cantanhede and Geovane Magno who are expected to fill the gap left by former Jamaican striker Rimario Allando Gordon and Senegalese striker Pape Omar Faye respectively.

Viettel’s coach Truong Viet Hoang has already recruited Brazilian striker Pedro Paulo from Saigon FC in an effort to successfully defend the championship title of Viettel team.

In addition to new coach Kiatisuk Senamuang, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Football Club has signed contracts with some domestic and foreign high-quality players namely Brazilian striker Washington Brandao, Korean central midfielder Kim Dong-so, overseas Vietnamese midfielder Steven Dang, goalkeeper Huynh Tuan Linh, defender Nguyen Van Viet (Than Quang Ninh FC) and defender Nguyen Huu Tuan (Ho Chi Minh City FC). With their such strong squad, Hoang Anh Gia Lai promise to be a strong opponent for the top spot of this year’s league.

Like Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Binh Duong has new coach Phan Thanh Hung who played a vital role for the success of Quang Ninh’s football sector over the past 5 years.

Sai Gon FC have also allowed so many changes to be created that their rivals may be surprised. In particular, Sai Gon FC has signed contracts with four Japan- renowned players namely Ryutaro Karube, Daisuke Matsui, Takasaki Horoyuki and Woo Sang-ho.

They are not stopping there as recruiting a physiotherapist and three other specialists, all from Japan. Lately, Sai Gon FC has made a push when it has successfully invited Shimoda Masahiro, former technical director of the Japan Football Association, to join the club as senior adviser.

Newly-promoted Binh Dinh are considered to be the new “rich club” at this year’s league as they have received the sponsorship package of 300 billion VND (US$13.01 million) from sponsors Topenland and Hung Thinh Land. Also, they have recruited striker Rimario (from Ha Noi FC), defender Ahn Byung-keon (from Saigon FC), national team player Ho Tan Tai (from Becamex Binh Duong) and Duong Thanh Hao (from Than Quang Ninh).

By BAO AN, Baomoi - Translated by M.D