Lank fc

Hai Phong vs HCM City in the V.League 1’s resumption yesterday. The two sides tied goalless. — Photo zing.vn

At Lạch Tray Stadium, hosts Hai Phong played out a goalless draw with HCM City FC.

The visitors had to do without national team star striker Nguyễn Công Phượng who skipped the match due to his engagement party, but South Korean coach Chung Hae-seong was still confident coming into the fixture.

However, with the support of their fans at home, Hải Phòng had the best of the early exchanges.

Just two minutes in, striker Claudecir Junior of the hosts was close to the goal, but could not produce a finish due to defensive pressure.

Five minutes later, Hải Phòng won a free kick on the right side which Phạm Mạnh Hùng whipped in dangerously, but goalkeeper Nguyễn Thanh Thắng gathered comfortably.

Hải Phòng continued to make chances but they couldn’t convert.

In the 21st minute, goalie Thắng let the ball fall through his hands and fall to Junior, but fortunately for the visitors, the Brazilian handled it.

The best chance of the half fell to HCM City in the 30th minute, but stocky midfielder Trần Phi Sơn managed to miss an absolute sitter.

Forward Amido Balde muscled his way into the Hai Phong box for a shot which goalkeeper Nguyễn Văn Toản saved. The rebound fell to the unmarked Sơn, but with the goal at his mercy, he conspired to screw the ball wide.

The first half closed with no goals, despite the sterling efforts of both sides.

Shortly into the second half, Junior tried an audacious overhead kick, but the shot had no power and caused goalkeeper Thắng no problems.

Things got scrappy after that, with a yellow for Balde in the 52nd minute and another for Hai Phong’s Nguyễn Văn Hạnh shortly after.

In the 56th minute, from a corner on the right, Pape Diakite of HCM City rose well but headed his shot wide.

City super-sub Nguyen Xuân Nam had a glorious chance from a Son corner in the 66th minute, but he headed inches wide despite being unmarked.

The game petered out after that point, with neither side creating many threatening chances.

The draw left the two sides briefly atop the table before the rest of the weekend’s fixtures, with City leading on seven points and Hai Phong close behind on five. — VNS

Barros used to play for several clubs in Brazil before moving to J1 League and signing with Kofu in 2017. After Kofu dropped to J2 League in 2018, he continued to play there until his contract with the club expired in February this year. During his spell at Kofu, he scored 17 goals. Only a short time later, Barros joined HCMC as a free agent. He is valued by German football site Transfermarkt at €300,000 ($364,555).

Junior Barros in a HCMC FC jersey. Photo courtesy of HCMC FC.

The 27-year-old, 1.83-meter-tall forward is expected to form a Brazilian attack trio with HCMC’s previous new signings, Joao Paulo and Dário.

The arrival of Barros means HCMC would have to exclude one foreign player from the squad as V. League only allows each club to register a maximum three foreigners. Accordingly, Senegalese Papé Diakité will not appear for HCMC during the first leg of V. League 2021. However, HCMC will keep him at the club as a back-up for the second leg, in case another foreign player in the squad loses form.

HCMC showed great ambition this season by setting the goal of becoming V. League champions. The Red Battle Ship, who finished fifth last season, have made major moves by signing Brazilian coach Alexander Polking from Thai League, three new Brazilian forwards and Vietnamese-American midfielder Lee Nguyen from the U.S.

“We are building the club on the foundations of Japanese J1 League, which is why we recruited him. Should Shimoda Masahiro not meet expectations, we might recruit another Japanese manager to replace him,” Saigon FC Chairman Tran Hoa Binh told VnExpress .

The 54-year-old coach was appointed after Vu Tien Thanh, the previous manager of Saigon FC left the club to become the new director of the Promotion Fund of Vietnamese Football Talents (PVF). The change was made last week.

Masahiro can speak English, Portuguese and Spanish fluently. He used to be a technical director for Japanese clubs Kyoto Purple Sanga and FC Tokyo. From 2009 to 2016, he held several key positions at Japan Football Association (JFA), including tech director. In addition, he was also the director of the Japanese national team, U23s, U19s and U16s.

During his seven years working at JFA, Japan achieved great results, winning Asian Cup 2011, AFC U23 and U19 Championship in 2016 and reaching the Olympic 2012 semifinals.

Saigon FC also appointed another Japanese, football expert Fuzima Kenzo as club vice director.

In another move, Saigon has officially loaned out two of their midfielders, Cao Van Trien and Tran Danh Trung, to J2 League club FC Ryukyu in a partnership deal. Three more players from Saigon are expected to join J3 League in 2022.

“We let the players go to Japan to improve their level. Cao Van Trien is our best player, but our goal is to create the best environment for him to grow so he could contribute to Vietnamese football,” Binh said.

The two sides have reached an agreement but have disclosed no details yet.

A Saigon FC spokesperson said: “We can buy or sign a partnership deal with a team in the J3 League because it is suitable for the level of Vietnamese players. Young players can play in Japan more regularly. What we are doing is creating an environment for Vietnamese players to learn and improve.”

Saigon FC already have partnerships with FC Tokyo of J1 League and FC Ryukyu of J2 League.

The club’s head coach and technical director are Japanese, as are a few players.

Saigon recently decided to send their star midfielder Cao Van Trien and Viettel FC midfielder Tran Danh Trung on loan at FC Ryukyu as the first step in a plan to send Vietnamese players to Japan to improve their game and Vietnamese football in the long term.

Saigon chairman Tran Hoa Binh said: “We can send not only Saigon FC players but also talent from other Vietnamese clubs if they allow us to.”

Soon they plan to send two more players to play in the J3 League, and from 2022 will send six players every year to play in Japan.

Cao Van Trien will play football in Japan

“It is expected that in early July, Cao Van Trien and Tran Danh Trung will go to Japan to play for FC Ryukyu. We will arrange a team of Japanese experts to support them with their skill and Japanese language training programs so that they will be able to adapt to the new environment as soon as possible,” said Saigon FC Chairman Tran Hoa Binh.

Cao Van Trien is one of the prominent players of Saigon FC, who was summoned to the national team by Coach Park Hang Seo in late 2020. Trien left a good impression with coach Park during his debut. Meanwhile, Tran Danh Trung used to a member of U19 and U22 national squads.

Saigon FC plans to send more players to Japan under a cooperation program.

After goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, striker Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Cong Vinh, Vietnam will have more football players coming to Japan.

On February 24, Saigon FC announced that it will replace coach Vu Tien Thanh with Japanese coach Masahiro Shimoda.

Thanh will then become Director of Football Division of the Vietnam Professional Football (PVF), in charge of training young football players.

Dai Nam