Football

Coach Crispin Chettri of Indian Odisha FC at the press briefing on October 8. Photos of VFF

HCM CITY — Coach Crispin Chettri of Indian Odisha FC hoped that HCM City FC's top striker Huỳnh Như will not play when the two sides' meet in the second Group C's match of the AFC Women's Champions League on October 9.

Như made impressive performance in the first match last week when the host side beat Chinese Taipei's Taichung Blue Whale 3-1 at the HCM City's Thống Nhất Stadium.

Odisha were hammered by Urawa Red Diamonds FC of Japan with a huge score of 17-0 to Urawa Red Diamonds in the earlier match.

Chettri definitely didn't want another loss which also meant that the team would be ousted from the tournament.

"Huỳnh Như is a good player. She has just recovered from injury but scored a double in the first match. It would be strong motivation for her and the club," said Chettri.

"(But) I hope that Huỳnh Như will not play tomorrow.

"However, HCM City still have other quality players including the captain (Chương Thị Kiều) and American members. This is a strong team of solidarity."

Chettri faced a huge task trying to ensure that his players recover psychically and mentally from that Urawa defeat. Their capacity to rally and that will be needed if they are to stay in the competition.

"Failing with a heavy loss somewhat affected our supporters' expectations. Professionally, I take full responsibility. But we have to forget it and to try harder in the next matches," said Chettri.

"My players went sightseeing and relieved stress after that match. The result of the match is not the most important, because we are in the stage of development and improvement. The importance is that the whole team must try their best."

HCM City are in a strong position for a place in the last eight after the first win and Như will be looking to increase her tally against Odisha but she may be a doubt after picking up a slight knock.

Striker Huỳnh Như of HCM City impresses Odisha coach Crispin Chettri

"Như has light ligament injury but it has improved remarkably. Other players are in good conditions. We have plans to rotate our first XI to make sure best team for every game," said coach Nguyễn Hồng Phẩm.

"We respect all rivals and will play with high determination and focus every game for best results."

Their match will begin at 7pm and will be live on FPT channels.

Earlier, Urawa will start as red-hot favourites to claim another win against Taichung.

Miko Ito and Yuzuho Shiokoshi, who scored four and three respectively against Odisha, are among those that Taichung have to shut down if they harbour hopes of taking something out of the match.

Having lost their opener to HCM City, Taichung can ill afford to drop more points if they are to advance to the next stage. — VNS