Hanoi Tasco Auto: Mihajlovic, Le Thanh Thuy and the task of bringing the spectators back

On the night of 14 October 2026, in the fifth set between Hà Nội Tasco Auto and Binh chủng Thông tin, the last ball did not fall to Brankica Mihajlović. The player credited with the decisive point was Lê Thanh Thúy, a middle blocker. In Vietnamese women's volleyball, the middle blocker is usually the groundwork: she blocks, she runs the quick to pull the block, then she steps aside for the wings. For a middle blocker to take the ball at 14-14 in the fifth set, the Hà Nội Tasco Auto setter has to trust her middle channel more than the tier of this club would suggest. I watched the tape of that match three times. Once for the ball. Once for the feet of libero Nguyễn Khánh Đang every time the opposition served. Once for where Mihajlović stands in the reception formation. All three viewings led me to the same doubt: is this team winning with a system, or with one arm? Read only the club's own introduction, and Hà Nội Tasco Auto is a club on the way up. In 2026 they won promotion. At the end of the 2026 season they were relegated again. At the end of 2026 they beat Quảng Ninh 3-0 in the A League final to return to the top flight. Three tier changes in three years is the signature of a squad-planning problem, not of bad luck. In September 2026, while the team was still in the A League, Tasco Auto signed a five-year title sponsorship. The Vietnam Sports Administration confirmed that roadmap in a document dated October 2026. A sponsor pouring money into a second-tier side and then following it up is a counter-cyclical move, different in kind from buying a champion. In the 2026 season the team won all seven phase-I matches, took the Hùng Vương Cup, beat Binh chủng Thông tin 3-2 on 14 October and VietinBank 3-0 on 17 October. After 14 appearances they had nine wins and a semifinal place. Head coach Nguyễn Tuấn Kiệt is described as building the squad through "flexible tactics