Gamba suffered a painful defeat to Kashiwa in the league, bringing their unbeaten streak in official matches to an end at eight, but the next match is coming up soon. The frustration felt at home is hard to erase, but "The loss to Kashiwa was disappointing for us as well, but on the other hand, we have to move on now. After that match, we'll be playing Nam Dinh at home, so it will be a good opportunity to clear our minds," stressed Mitsuta, who will be playing in his second ACL2 match.

Gamba is currently leading Group F in ACL2 after a winning streak, but their first big game of the tournament will be against Nam Dinh, which marks the halfway point of the group stage. They will face off against an opponent who is tied with them on six points, and Head Coach Poyatos is focused only on getting three points, saying, "They are a good team with quality, so it will be a difficult match, but we want to finish with a win."

The key points of the match were clear. "There are some aspects of height and quality that we cannot control. We have them play as far away as possible to prevent them from getting close to our goal area," said Head Coach Poyatos. As Nam Dinh has individual strength and is strong in aerial battles, the aim is to move the ball around and advance the game in the opposition's half. Mitsuda, who faced Nam Dinh as a member of Hiroshima in February this year, also commented that "each individual player on their team is strong and athletic. If we don't pass the ball around well and tire out the opponents by making them run, their strengths will be exposed." He expressed his desire to move the ball effectively.
"The most important thing is not to concede a goal early on. So I want to concentrate so as not to ruin the game," said the battle-hardened Higashiguchi, who was full of energy, but all they could do was move the ball around tenaciously and break through Nam Dinh's defense.

Meanwhile, Nam Dinh has won the Vietnamese domestic league for two consecutive years, earning a spot in ACL2 for the second consecutive year. Since ACL2 does not allow for a quota for foreign players, the majority of the starting lineup is made up of foreign players, and they advanced to the round of 16 last season. Although they lost to Hiroshima and missed out on the top eight, they are a Vietnamese powerhouse that is beginning to make their presence felt in Asian competition.

Nam Dinh has a number of Brazilian players from the GK to the front line, but the attackers they need to be particularly wary of are BRENNER MARLOS Varanda De Oliveira, who played for Okayama, Mahmoud MAHMOUD EID, who joined the team this season, and Christopher KRISTOFFER NORMANN HANSEN, a former Norwegian U21 international who scored the winning goal against Toho. "They're quite tall, and I think they'll make a difference with set pieces and individual play, so we need to be careful," says Higashiguchi. Clever play and avoiding giving away free kicks or corner kicks will also be essential.

"It will be a tough match as both teams have two wins each, but we'll be playing at home and we'll play our own style of football to win," declared Mitsuta.
The time has come for them to win their first big match of the group stage against Nam Dinh and take sole possession of first place.