Cong An Ha Noi open ASEAN Club Championship 2026-2027 campaign: Coach Alexandre Polking and the squad puzzle after FIFA Days

At 18:30 on October 8, 2026, Vietnam time, Cong An Ha Noi play Lion City Sailors away in Singapore in their opening Group B fixture of the ASEAN Club Championship 2026-2027. It is the first match of the club's regional campaign, coming only days after the FIFA Days break ended. The fixture carries a double meaning for coach Alexandre Polking and his players. The team need a good start to build momentum for the group stage, and the game is also the first real test of squad rotation now that key personnel have returned. During the recent FIFA Days, Cong An Ha Noi welcomed back five national team players who had featured at the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026: Adou Minh, Cao Pendant Quang Vinh, Le Pham Thanh Long, Le Van Do and Nguyen Dinh Bac. Their return restores the squad's original strength, especially in positions that offer unpredictability. Unfortunately for Cong An Ha Noi, Bui Hoang Viet Anh did not travel with the team because he had to return home to recover from injury. The centre-back is a key link in the defensive system, so his absence forces coach Alexandre Polking to rethink his back line for the trip to Singapore. The biggest question is not who is available but who plays and for how long. Player health has been a heavily debated topic after Vietnam's failure at FIFA-level competition, where the loss of players to injury was identified as one cause. At the tournament held in Indonesia, most Cong An Ha Noi players featured in all four matches. Adou Minh, Cao Pendant Quang Vinh, Le Pham Thanh Long and Nguyen Dinh Bac all played heavy minutes but did not produce their best performances, a consequence of accumulated overload. Notably, Nguyen Dinh Bac at one point had to train separately and played through pain in the match against Malaysia. That detail shows how punishing the international calendar is and underlines the need for more scientific load management at club level. This is the puzzle coach Alexandre Polking must solve, because the FIFA Days break is followed by a dense run of fixtures for Cong An Ha Noi across four competitions: the V-League, the National Cup, the AFC Champions League Elite and the ASEAN Club Championship. Every match carries its own value. From a technical standpoint, Lion City Sailors are not considered a particularly strong opponent. The Singaporean side are on a poor run of results and sit only fifth in their domestic league. That form makes resting the returning internationals a more reasonable option. Head-to-head history also leans heavily towards Cong An Ha Noi. The last meeting, on September 26, 2026, ended in a 5-0 win for the Vietnamese club in the ASEAN Club Championship itself. That margin, combined with current form, suggests a very large gap in class. Before the FIFA Days break, Cong An Ha Noi won all four of their matches in the V-League and the National Super Cup, losing only once, to a clearly superior Gamba Osaka in the AFC Champions League Elite. That run gives fans reason to expect a positive result. Looking at the squad available to coach Alexandre Polking, it is fair to say the team are not much weakened by the absence of the five internationals. Defence has Doan Van Hau, midfield has Nguyen Quang Hai back from injury, and up front Alan Grafite and Leo Artur are always ready to fire. Speaking before the match, coach Alexandre Polking said: "We always want to maintain our position in domestic competition and successfully defend the V-League title. But matches in international competition will also be challenges that help raise the club's level." Defender Doan Van Hau said: "We have the goal of achieving the best possible result at the ASEAN Club Championship. It starts with the match against Lion City, and we really want to win." That statement shows the squad have set a clear objective from the opening fixture. Tactically, three points against Lion City Sailors should not be too difficult, but coach Alexandre Polking must win while using his personnel efficiently. Giving fringe players opportunities not only preserves key men for the packed schedule ahead but also fuels internal competition. A sensible approach is to introduce the internationals from the bench for around 20 to 30 minutes each, keeping them match-sharp without adding physical strain. Big clubs often use this method during congested periods. Lion City Sailors, for their part, will try to use home advantage to press hard in the first half, when visiting teams are often not yet at their sharpest. If Cong An Ha Noi control the opening 20 minutes, the match should fall within their control. Even so, the ASEAN Club Championship 2026-2027 is a long campaign in which a winning start is only the beginning. The greatest value Cong An Ha Noi can take from Singapore is not just three points but the way coach Alexandre Polking rotates to preserve his squad for the whole season. The result will be updated after the final whistle on the evening of October 8, 2026.