Football

HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội FC will play Felda United of Malaysia in the AFC Cup’s last Group G round match today.

The Vietnamese representative can only advance to the knock-out stage when they win the game, while Ceres Negros of the Philippines could not beat Tampines Rovers of Singapore in the other match.

In the first leg match, Felda United successfully tied Hà Nội on their home turf. In the second leg today, Hà Nội have an advantage when they play on home turf but are missing their best players.

Their key striker Hoàng Vũ Samson was sidelined for four games after his red card against Ceres two weeks ago.

Argentinean Gonzalo Damian Marronkle, scorer Trịnh Duy Long, goalkeeper Trần Anh Đức and defender Nguyễn Thành Chung may not play as they have some aches and pains.

Their young members such as Nguyễn Quang Hải, Hồ Minh Dĩ and Trương Văn Thái Quý are training with the national U-20 for the World Cup campaign.

However, coach Chu Đình Nghiêm still believes in a win although it is not an easy task.

“Felda United have no chance to progress. They will play with a free mind as they are not under any pressure in the coming match,” Nghiêm said.

“We are facing a big problem as many of our players could not play for different reasons. I hope everything will be okay before the game and we are determined to win and progress,” he said.

Coach Bhaskaran Satiananthan of Felda United said his team could not advance to the next round but players were asked to grab a positive result which would help them to push their spirits up for the local tournament. — VNS