Dong A Thanh Hoa have successfully retained their Vietnamese National Cup crown after they had beaten Hanoi FC 9-8 on penalties in Sunday’s final at the Thanh Hoa Stadium. After a goalless 90 minutes, the 2023/24 cup final went straight to penalties as the decider, where both Joel Tagueu and Nguyen Van Quyet had their attempts saved by Trinh Xuan Hoang, with the Thanh Hoa goalkeeper channeling his inner Bruce Grobbelaar to taunt his Hanoi opposition during the shootout. Velizar Popov’s men came into Sunday’s clash without Popov himself, who had to watch the match from the stands due to a suspe…