Hosts Long An lose 1st round match 0-1
Host Dong Tam Long An lost 0-1 to Hoang Anh Gia Lai in the V-League"s resumed first round match yesterday at Long An Stadium.
Striker Tang Tuan scored for the Central Highland team just four minutes after the break, helping his team stand in the leading group with three points.
The match was postponed on Sunday due to bad lighting after an electrical leakage during the 65th minute. Match organisers failed to fix it within 30 minutes as per regulation.
Long An”s goal was scored during the 51st minute after captain Nguyen Minh Phuong”s volley which touched his teammate Nguyen Minh Minh and then found the net.
In a meeting on Monday, the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) reviewed reports from match”s supervisors and came to the conclusion that the mistake belonged on Long An”s side, as they could not ensure the best conditions for the match. In regards to this, the two teams had to restart the game, even though the home team led 1-0 before the breakdown.
Long An”s managers did not agree with the decision.
“It was an unintentional event so the decision is not fair. We cannot accept it,” said Pham Phu Hoa, Long An”s executive manager.
“It will create a bad precedent. We want to make the regulations more strict. We prefer a 0-3 loss over having to play again.”
“It is a bad decision,” coach Henrique Calisto was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.
“We should play out the rest of the first match”s minutes, not from the beginning as they decided. With this kind of accident in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Africa or Asia there is only one solution: that we will play the remaining time.
“I cannot believe it. It is an unfair decision that exists only in Vietnam. I”m disappointed. I want to know why the VFF made such decision,” he said.
The Asian Football Confederation rules that if a match is postponed within 45 minutes, it should be restarted; if it is played for more than 45 minutes, the two sides will play out the remaining time and the result will be maintained; and when it is more than 80 minutes into the game, it will finish and the score at that time will be the final result.
After asking for the opinions of provincial leaders, the team was asked to begin a new match.
The hosts had a bad feeling when they were forced to restart the match. This resulted in a heavy, brooding atmosphere during the game. The footballers seemed not play with all of their power, being absent-minded in both attacks and defence.
They failed to protect the net in the second half. Tuan took it easy to pass Long An”s defenders before scoring his first goal of the season.
In the second round, Long An will play Binh Dinh in Quy Nhon Stadium while Gia Lai meet with Hoa Phat Ha Noi on their home ground in Pleiku on Sunday.
VNS
