Coach Vũ Tiến Thành directingh his players against SHB Đà Nẵng on Tuesday. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

Football

HCM CITY — The head coach of HCM City Club, Vũ Tiến Thành, has claimed he has no talent, only experience, after helping his team win enough points to stay in V.League 1.

HCM City swept SHB Đà Nẵng aside 3-0 on Tuesday to avoid relegation, with goals from Lee Nguyễn, Hoàng Vũ Samson and Phạm Trùm Tỉnh.

HCM currently have 23 points, above Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh (21 points), Nam Định (20 points) and Sài Gòn (19 points).

In their last two matches, HCM will meet Viettel on November 13 and Topenland Bình Định on November 19.  Viettel and Bình Định are fighting it out for third, while HCM will be hoping to cause some upsets and finish the season strongly. 

At the press conference after the match, Thành praised his squad for always maintaining their determination throughout the season.

"I think, in the national premiere league, a team only need to train hard and live well to achieve their goals. From the day I received the task of becoming coach of HCM City, when they were bottom of the league, I set out a strategy to stay up. We tried to earn each point in each match," Thành said.

When asked about the secret to helping HCM stay successful, Thành said: "I have no talent, only experience. But, after I discussed it with the players, I recognised the atmosphere in the team was very good. That made us successful. I solved many problems and conflicts in the team, not just coaching and directing on the pitch.

The coach also gave compliments to goalkeeper Bùi Tiến Dũng, who can play with his feet, which is suitable to the modern football style that Thành wants to apply to the team. 

However, Thành could not guarantee Dũng would still be with the side next season, as his contract is expiring.

"Everyone likes Dũng, and so do I. But the problem is related to funding," Thành said.

Meanwhile, coach Phan Thanh Hùng of Đà Nẵng expressed his dissatisfaction with the quality of the Thai referee, Songkran Bunmeekiart.

"The penalty kick to open the scoring completely changed the game. The penalty reflected the quality of the referee. If there was no penalty and HCM did not score a goal, then Đà Nẵng would have a chance. We had played well up to that point," Hùng said.

"Currently, Đà Nẵng are undergoing many changes, so we must also accept bad results. Some young players have been promoted to the national team, which is a positive sign. We have plans to promote young footballers," Hùng added. VNS