Buying the right to attend the First
Division Tournament from Hoa Phat V&V and changing the team name into Saigon
Xuan Thanh, the new football club is based in HCM City. It is emerging as a new
power after purchasing several players of the national squad.

After failing to bring Xuan Thanh Ha Tinh team from the
Second Division to the First Division tournament in the 2010 football season,
Xuan Thanh group bought the right to play at the First Division from Hoa Phat
V&V and changed the team name into Saigon Xuan Thanh and moved the team from Ha
Tinh province to HCM City.

This is the third football team that moved from other
provinces to HCM City, after Saigon United and Navibank Saigon.

As the newcomer of the First Division tournament, Saigon
Xuan Thanh has quickly become known as a new power after its President, Nguyen
Duc Thuy, paid millions of US dollars to buy stars who are members of the
national team like Minh Duc from Hai Phong club, Phuoc Tu from T&T Hanoi, Sy
Manh from Ninh Binh, Dinh Luat from Navibank Saigon, Duy Quang from Hoang Anh
Gia Lai and Huynh Kesley from Binh Duong. Some said that the new club is a
miniature national team.

The team’s coaching board includes football experts from
HCM City: coach Lu Dinh Tuan, coach assistants Nguyen Van Phung, Nguyen Liem
Thanh, Ho Van Tam, chief Ngo Le Bang and executive manager Tran Tien Dai.

At the introduction meeting on January 5, Saigon Xuan Thanh
Chair Nguyen Duc Thuy didn’t hide the team’s ambition to play at the V-League
the next season.

Huynh Kesley Alves, one of the top stars in Vietnam, who
has just moved from Binh Duong with a 3-year contract, promised to devote
himself to help Saigon Xuan Thanh become the champion of the First Division
2011.

The First Division Tournament is the second-class
professional football tournament in Vietnam, only after the V-League. The first
and the second teams of the First Division will play at the V-League the next
football season. The third team will have a play-off game with the 12^th
team of V-League to compete for a seat at the next V-League.

PV