Unique Vietnamese football: Hanoi FC can participate in the Asian tournament if… SLNA wins against CAHN team

Hanoi FC will be the beneficiary if SLNA defeats Hanoi Police in the final of the 2024-2025 National Cup.

If SLNA fails...

At 6 p.m. on June 29, the 2024-2025 National Cup final will take place between Hanoi Police Club and SLNA at Vinh Stadium. The championship will not only help one of the two teams win the only title this season but also open up the opportunity to participate in the upcoming international tournament.

Specifically, with the Hanoi Police Club, as one of the 11 teams that meet the licensing criteria from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), representatives of the police sector will be entitled to participate in the AFC Champions League Two and the Southeast Asian Club Championship. This is the door that coach Mano Polking and his team are aiming for.

Hanoi in V-League

Photo: Minh Tu

Because from this moment, Hanoi Police Club has planned personnel and strategies to serve the ambitions of next season. In addition to participating in regional and continental tournaments, similar to Nam Dinh Club, Hanoi Police Club will have the privilege of registering unlimited foreign players in V-League, instead of just stopping at 4 as expected to be applied to clubs only competing in domestic tournaments next season.

Although only 3 foreign players are allowed to be used, recruiting many "Western" players also helps coach Mano Polking easily rotate his squad, thereby aiming to regain the V-League throne after 2 empty-handed seasons.

If SLNA wins the cup

An interesting story will happen if SLNA Club wins the National Cup. Certainly, the representative of Nghe An is qualified to participate in the Southeast Asian Club Championship. However, because it is not on the list licensed by AFC to participate in the continental tournament (because it does not fully meet the criteria), SLNA will not be allowed to participate in the AFC Champions League Two 2025-2026.

Hanoi FC won the V-League runner-up position and has a chance to participate in the Asian tournament if SLNA loses to Hanoi Police team.

Photo: Minh Tu

The tournament spot will most likely belong to the runner-up of V-League this season. That is Hanoi FC.

This is similar to a few previous seasons in Vietnam. For example, Quang Nam , despite winning the 2017 V-League, was absent from the 2018 AFC Cup because it did not meet the licensing criteria. The replacement representative was runner-up Thanh Hoa.

Two years later, Hanoi won the V-League and National Cup double in 2019. However, the capital team did not meet the criteria for youth training when they did not send the U.15 team to participate in the national tournament. Ho Chi Minh City Club (runner-up) and Quang Ninh (3rd place in V-League) were then the two representatives of Vietnam at the AFC Cup 2020.

Obviously, Hanoi FC has the motivation to pay attention to the National Cup final between SLNA and Hanoi Police Club. Because a positive result for SLNA will help Hanoi FC expand its transfer plan, thereby aiming for ambitions in the 2025-2026 season.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doc-la-bong-da-viet-nam-ha-noi-fc-co-the-du-giai-chau-a-neu-slna-thang-doi-cahn-185250628232335886.htm