Brenner's hat-trick helps Bac Ninh open National Cup campaign with a 'gift' win

When the referee blew the final whistle at Long An Stadium, Brenner Marlos did not celebrate wildly as one might expect from a player who had just scored a hat-trick. He stood still for a few seconds, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then quietly raised his hand to the coaching staff. The Brazilian striker had just scored all three goals to help Bac Ninh Club beat the hosts 3-2 in the qualifying round of the 2026-2027 National Cup. But the restrained celebration was a telling detail. This match was not as easy as the 3-0 scoreline may have suggested. Bac Ninh made a favorable start to the cup competition, but cracks in their defensive system were ruthlessly exposed in the final 20 minutes. Watching from the stands, I recalled my days as a training-ground observer for Chengdu youth team in 2026. The training ground never lies; we just need to be patient enough to listen. Watching Bac Ninh play at Long An, I thought: this victory may be a positive signal, but it could also be an early warning for a newly promoted team trying to establish itself in Vietnam's top flight. Bac Ninh entered the National Cup with the mentality of a team in form. They had just won promotion to the V-League by beating PVF-CAND in a dramatic playoff. Earlier, in V-League Round 2, they caused a major upset by beating title contenders Cong An TP.HCM 1-0. Coach Paulo Foiani has built a confident, direct, and efficient team. Therefore, the away tie against a First Division side like Long An was seen as an opportunity for Bac Ninh to assert their class. But football is never that simple. Long An entered the match desperate for their first win of the season. They had just lost 0-1 to Cong An Nhan Dan in the First Division opener, and their coach certainly did not want another defeat at home. Long An's spirit was far from weak, even though the opponent came from a higher division. From the opening minutes, Bac Ninh showed they came to win. The players pressed high and put pressure on Long An's defense. The opening goal came from a set piece: a corner kick from the right was crossed in, and Brenner rose to head the ball into the net. Detailed aerial duel statistics were not widely published, but anyone watching could see Long An's weakness against aerial balls. That is not a new tactical discovery, but it is a notable detail for opponents preparing to face Long An. The second goal came from a left-wing attack. Phan The Hung, one of Bac Ninh's key players, made a penetrating run and cut the ball back. Brenner arrived at the right spot and finished clinically to make it 2-0. At this point, the match seemed under the visitors' control. They kept the ball more, circulated it slowly, and played with confidence. The third goal also came from a dead-ball situation. Vu Hong Quan took a free kick with a difficult trajectory. The ball hit the post, and Brenner, with the instinct of a true poacher, was there to tap in the rebound. 3-0. It seemed the match was over. But then the remarkable and worrying phase began. Long An suddenly woke up. They pushed their formation forward and forced Bac Ninh into constant defending. A First Division side trailing by three goals had nothing to lose and started playing with heart rather than caution. The goal to make it 3-1 came from a direct attack through the middle. In the 83rd minute, Bac Ninh's defense made another mistake. Center-back Van Dat misjudged his clearance, and the ball fell to a Long An midfielder in the box. The sweet finish beat the Bac Ninh goalkeeper. It was 3-2. The atmosphere was intense. The final minutes saw wave after wave of pressure from Long An. Bac Ninh could barely organize any meaningful attack. They retreated and simply waited for the final whistle. When it came, Bac Ninh players breathed a sigh of relief. A win is a win, and Bac Ninh has every right to be satisfied. But a professional cannot look only at the final score. The way a team threw away a 3-0 lead and nearly conceded a draw says a lot about their character and game management. Tactically, the most striking feature is Bac Ninh's near-total dependence on set pieces and wide crosses. All three goals came from a corner, a cross, and a free kick. That shows Brenner is a classic No.9, a penalty-box predator with good aerial ability and positioning. But it also shows Bac Ninh have not yet built an organized open-play attack. They lack triangle combinations and clever through balls. They rely mainly on set pieces and the quality of their foreign players. In Vietnamese football, relying on foreign players is common. Many clubs build their play around a quality foreign striker. But that strategy always carries risk. If Brenner gets injured or loses form, who will score for Bac Ninh? This is a question the coaching staff must answer soon. Another issue is the defense under pressure. When Long An pushed forward, Bac Ninh nearly collapsed. They had no clear defensive plan, no compact shape, no support from central midfielders. The defenders were isolated and made individual errors, like Van Dat's failed clearance. One might argue that Bac Ninh became complacent after taking a 3-0 lead. That may be true. But it reflects a reality: this promoted side is not yet used to protecting a lead against a desperate opponent. The V-League will not forgive such mistakes. However, the match also offers a completely different perspective. From Long An's side, the 2-3 defeat could be a turning point. They played the second half with extraordinary fighting spirit and were only a little luck away from a draw. Romario Alves, Long An's foreign player, had an energetic game and caused trouble for Bac Ninh's defense. If Long An maintain that spirit, they can compete at the top of the First Division. Another interesting detail: the match took place just one day before Bac Ninh officially became a centrally-governed city on September 20. Local media called the victory a gift to the newly upgraded city. But I do not think Bac Ninh's win should be framed only in that way. Wins in football should be judged on merit, not on symbolic external events. The relationship between football and local identity is always complex. A team represents a region and a community, and their victories echo far beyond the scoreline. Yet attaching a win to an administrative event can make people forget the real issues on the pitch. Looking back, I see a newly promoted team learning to survive in the V-League. They have a top-class goalscorer, a disciplined squad, and a coach with a clear tactical approach. But they also show the naivety of a freshly promoted side. If we look at the bare numbers, the win over Long An was just a cup victory. It says little about Bac Ninh's V-League prospects. But if we look at how they defended at the end, we can predict that this team will have many tense matches this season. The nature of a newly promoted team is like that. They fight with enthusiasm and desire, but they lack game-management experience at the highest level. Bac Ninh may win more matches, but those wins must be convincing. After the match, I was reminded of a long-time colleague's saying: "Real stars do not emerge from the screen, but from the eyes of those sitting in the secondary stands." On the secondary stands that day, I saw Bac Ninh fans in green shirts, singing non-stop. They traveled far to support their team. They probably didn't care much about tactical nuance. They cared that their team won. Bac Ninh won. But to win consistently, they will need more than a Brenner hat-trick. The rhythm of a team is not in the score, but in the silent moments between the two phases of play. In those rare quiet moments, I saw a Bac Ninh that was still fragile in defense, and a Long An that was never weak – a team waiting to rise again. Vietnamese football has seen many newly promoted teams come up and go straight back down. The difference between those that stay and those that go often lies in their ability to adapt. Bac Ninh are learning. The question is whether they can learn fast enough. This National Cup tie may not be a major milestone in Bac Ninh's history, but it gives us a clearer picture of the puzzle Paulo Foiani must solve. He has a sharp attacking edge, but his defense remains a big question mark. Long An's near-comeback is a reminder that Bac Ninh cannot rest on their laurels. Soon, opponents will study Bac Ninh's weaknesses shown in this match. They will attack the space behind the full-backs, apply pressure with aerial balls, and do everything to isolate Brenner from supply lines. If Bac Ninh have no Plan B, they will pay. So, the 3-2 win over Long An is not a statement that Bac Ninh will have a successful season. It is just a first step in a long journey. Bac Ninh can only claim success when they get enough points to stay up safely and build a sustainable style. For Long An, this defeat may linger as a shock. But if they can turn the pain into motivation, they can truly make this a memorable season for the southern team. The story of this match can be summarized as: a foreign player scored a hat-trick, a newly promoted team won, and an administrative event turned the win into a symbol. But when we look beneath the headlines, we see a Bac Ninh searching for its identity, and a Long An that will not be easy to bully. In football, winning and losing are only part of the story. The bigger story lies in the journey ahead – in how a team defines its identity, overcomes difficulties, and pursues its goals. Bac Ninh and Long An will each continue on their own paths. Let us wait and see where they go.