Overseas Vietnamese player shines, coach Popov says something surprising

It was thought that the match against CA TP.HCM would be difficult, but The Cong Viettel easily won 3-0, with goals from Pedro Henrique, Damian Vu Thanh An and Lucao.

Evaluating the match, Coach Popov of The Cong Viettel said: "We had a few tactical changes that needed 5-10 minutes to adapt, then everything became smoother. The players missed many opportunities, but more importantly, The Cong Viettel won 3 points. 3-0, 5-0 or 1-0 are all 3 points."

In this match, right after entering the field, new Vietnamese-American player Damian Vu Thanh An immediately scored a goal to raise the score to 2-0 for the home team. Coach Popov commented: "Damian did a good job when he entered the field. I don't want to say this publicly because it's a personal matter. The important thing is that the whole team did well and scored goals. Of course, we need to improve more in finishing, but overall the players did well in terms of tactics, ball control, tempo and attack."

"All players are important, I don't want to talk about individuals, it's not fair to the team. Today the defense was good, most of the time the goalkeeper didn't have to work, the only situation was when Van Tram passed the ball back. When Phan Tuan Tai deployed the ball, the players did well, the opponent had to rotate the formation. We have good competition even for the goalkeeper position. I rotate all positions," Coach Popov concluded.

Meanwhile, coach Le Huynh Duc said: "I think my players did well. The most important thing is their physical strength. In the opening match, I said that towards the end, my players lost steam. We were not well prepared. But mentally, I still acknowledge that my players did well. They did their best."

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/overseas-player-toa-sang-hlv-popov-noi-dieu-bat-ngo-2435058.html