Football

Việt Nam's Viettel players celebrate their goal during a 5-2 win over Hougang United of Singapore at the AFC Cup's Group I activities on June 30. — Photo of Viettel FC

HÀ NỘI — Assistant Coach, Đặng Thanh Phương of Viettel, was happy with his team's success with wins in their first time competing in the AFC Cup.

Viettel secured a third win after trouncing Hougang United of Singapore 5-2 in a Group I match, with four penalties in the first 45 minutes, at the HCM City Thống Nhất Stadium on Thursday.

The Vietnamese side topped the group and advanced to the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals.

"We are happy and proud to be a Vietnamese representative at the AFC Cup and winning all three group matches," Phương said at the post-match briefing.

"We received strong support from local fans and really appreciated it. There were mistakes in the first half, but we dominated the second. My players did a good job, and we deserved the win," Thanh said.

"Young players of Viettel, 80 per cent of my team, were given opportunities to compete in this tournament. Their performance was pretty good. I hope that this generation will strongly grow in the near future."

Việt Nam international Nguyễn Hoàng Đức also took part in the briefing. He said Viettel showed some strong points throughout the three matches, as well as some weaknesses.

Returning to Hà Nội, Đức and the team have a lot of work to do to improve.

Among their problems is skipper Nguyễn Đức Chiến's knee injury, which he suffered in the second half.

He went to the hospital for checks and coach Phương is hoping it will not be serious, with V.League 1 restarting on July 2. The former champions have a game against Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh on July 4.

In the other match of Group I, Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Crown defeated Young Elephants of Laos 4-2. Both were ousted from the tournament after two earlier losses.

Following Viettel to the zonal semi-finals were PSM Makassar of Indonesia and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur City FC from Group H.

Makassar, who completed their fixtures on Monday, topped Group H ahead of debutants Kuala Lumpur City on goal difference, with both tied on four points.

Kuala Lumpur City qualified as the best runners-up from the three groups. The results of the second-placed teams of Groups G and I against the bottom sides were discounted as Group H was a three-team affair.

Kedah Darul Aman was the second Malaysian team to confirm an ASEAN Zonal Semi-final spot after roaring to a 5-1 win over Cambodia's Visakha FC on Thursday to top Group G.

Kedah will play PSM Makassar in the ASEAN Zonal Semi-finals in early August, with the winners to face either Viettel or Kuala Lumpur City in the ASEAN Zonal Final. — VNS