AFC Cup: Hoa Phat Hanoi hold Negeri to goalless draw

They are midfielder Pham Thanh Luong of the national men’s team, striker Nguyen Cong Phuong of the national U19 and defender Bui Thi Nhu of the national women’s squad.

Through the year, Luong’s play has been outstanding for the Ha Noi T&T club, who finished in second place last season, and for the national team at the recent AFF Cup, where he scored once and created a number of opportunities for teammates.

He is one of two Vietnamese players selected in the AFF Cup’s team by noted magazine FourFourTwo.

Young Phuong played a key role in Viet Nam’s performance in different international tournaments, as well as training courses abroad.

Meanwhile, Nhu showed off as an indispensable player for her Phong Phu Ha Nam club and the national team.

The vote will be held tomorrow in Ha Noi. 

Playing at home with a quality squad, the V-League 2014 champions entirely dominated the first half.

In the first 30 minutes of the match, Binh Duong constantly threatened Hai Phong’s goalkeeper Thanh Thang, yet they missed a series of chances to open the scoring.

It was not until the 35th minute that striker Anh Duc netted in the ball to the far corner of the goal to bring a 1-0 lead to Binh Duong.

Inspired by the opener, the hosts strengthened attacks to widen the gap, however they were unable to turn any opportunities into goal.

The game saw few changes in the second half, except for a few opportunities for the visitors, of which the most significant was in the 59th minute as striker Fagan lifted the ball over Binh Duong’s goalkeeper. Fortunately, defender Phuoc Tu stepped up in time to make a clearance.

The 1-0 result remained unchanged till the referee blew the last whistle, enough for Binh Duong to claim their third National Super Cup’s trophy.

The winners received VND200 million (US$9,500) in cash, with the losing team took VND100 million (US$4,750).

The Super Cup, which is the opening match for the new football season, has been held between the V-League champions and the National Cup winners every year since 1999. In the previous season, the Vissai Ninh Binh defeated Hanoi T&T on January 4, 2014.

Truong Viet Hoang will coach the V-League side Hai Phong. 

Hung said that the Maltese-born English coach will end his one-year contract with Hai Phong at the end of this year, and that his club believes in the new young coach Hoang, who is a former national footballer and head coach of the Ha Noi Club.

“Many people are worried that Hoang is young, lacks experience and hasn’t guided any V-League teams. However, I think that it is not a big issue. Under Hoang’s guidance, Hai Phong will prepare well for the new season, especially to win the upcoming National Super Cup on December 27,” Hung said.

“It is the first time that I will be taking Hai Phong to play in the V-League. There will be many difficulties ahead. But I will pass with the support of the club’s leaders and fans. It is my new experience,” 39-year-old Hoang said.

The games are expected to begin in May in HCM City, with the participation of eight teams.

The teams are to be divided into two groups. The hosts will be in Group B with Myanmar, Malaysia and the Philippines. While Group A consists of Thailand, Australia, Indonesia and Laos.

Teams will compete in a round robin format at the group stage, with the two best teams advancing to the semi-finals.

The Vietnam national beach football team

The result was considered an encouraging achievement for Vietnamese beach soccer in 2014 – a year witnessing impressive performances by the national team on international arenas.

The Vietnam squad, coached by Dang Quoc Hung, finished as runners-up at the 2014 AFF Beach Soccer Championship hosted in Malaysia two months ago, with their Bui Tran Tuan Anh named the tournament’s top scorer for his 15 goals.

Vietnamese beach footballers went on to shine brightly at the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand in November, overcoming many powerhouses such as Kuwait and Qatar to qualify for the semifinal round.

Despite missing out on the medal, Vietnam won many rating points for their 4th-place finish, climbing to fourth position in the Asian rankings, behind the United Arab Emirates (495 points), Iran (350 points) and Japan (315 points).

Russia, Brazil and the Switzerland made the world’s top three teams, scoring 1215, 860 and 837 points respectively.

The tournament draws the participation of 20 teams around the country, divided into four groups.

Group A consists of five teams: People’s Public Security, Hanoi T&T, Thanh Hoa, Quang Ninh Coal and Viettel.

Meanwhile, Group B includes Binh Dinh, Sanna Tech Land Khanh Hoa, SHB Da Nang, Song Lam Nghe An and Thua Thien – Hue.

The teams Becamex Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dak Lak, Lam Dong and Ho Chi Minh City will compete in Group C, while An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, the Promotion Fund for Vietnamese Football Talent (PVF) and XSKT Can Tho will play in Group D.

The teams will compete in a double round robin format to decide the top eight teams to enter the final round, to be held from March 4 to 15, 2015.

The eight teams will play in two groups to select the four best teams to qualify for the semi-finals and the two winners will face each other in the final match.

Despite losing to Malaysia in the semi-finals at the Southeast Asian Football Championships or AFF Suzuki Cup, Vietnam still rank second in Southeast Asia, behind the Philippines. 

The following teams in the region are Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. 

In Asia, Vietnam is placed in the 20th position. Iran jumped five spots to leapfrog Japan, who are down one place, for the top place. 

The world’s top three remain unchanged, namely Germany, Argentina, and Colombia.

According to football experts, in this year’s tournament, the team showed their dedication to football with a number of eye-catching attacking phases.

At the individual title, Malaysian midfielder Safiq Rahim won the Scorer Award with six goals in seven matches while Thai striker Chanathip Songkrasin triumphed the Best Player award.

Fourteen teams will compete in a two-leg format competition, playing 182 matches starting January 4 and finishing September 20.

In the first round, defending champions Becamex Binh Duong will face Dong Thap.

Meanwhile, four matches which will be watched are second-place Ha Noi T&T vs Dong Tam Long An, Song Lam Nghe An vs Hai Phong and third-ranked Thanh Hoa vs SHB Da Nang.

There are two breaks during the tournament, with the first being from February 15-April 12 for the Tet holiday and when the national U23 players are summoned for the Asian championships in Malaysia. The second break is from May 3-June 28 when the U23s prepares for the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

Tony Popovic’s side became the first Australian club to be crowned Asian champions by edging out Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal following a narrow 1-0 aggregate victory after stunning 2013 champions Guangzhou en route in the quarter-finals on away goals in what was a huge upset by the A-League team in their maiden campaign. 

Western Sydney will also be joined in Group H by either 2007 champions Urawa Red Diamonds or Kashima Antlers, dependent on the winner of Japan’s Emperor’s Cup, and one of four teams who advance from the play-offs in the East. 

“We had a great battle with Guangzhou last year, a big match in Parramatta Stadium and an exciting one in China and we look forward to continuing what could become a very healthy Asian rivalry between the two clubs,” said Western Sydney club representative Christian Layland. 

“Although we dealt with all the logistics of travelling around Asia very well last year, with experience you get a little bit better, so we’ll certainly draw from everything we learnt from last time and put that into place in this year’s competition. 

“We have a very high standard of expectation within the club. We set those standards high last year, we expected to do well last year and wanted to be champions. And this year is no different: we want to repeat that performance.” 

Compatriots Brisbane Roar, who defeated Western Sydney in the 2014 A-League Grand Final, will face Montedio Yamagata or Urawa as well as K-League Classic side Suwon Bluewings and a play-off winner in Group G. 

Elsewhere in the East, Korean champions and 2006 winners Jeonbuk Hyundai will meet Chinese FA Cup holders Shandong Luneng and Vietnamese champions Becamex Binh Duong in Group E in addition to a team from the play-offs. 

And in Group F, 2008 champions and J.League winners Gamba Osaka will face two-time Asian champions Seongnam FC, Thailand’s Buriram United as well as the final play-off winner. 

In the West, last year’s finalists Al Hilal will look to go one better starting with a Group C that includes Foolad Khouzestan from Iran as well as Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv Tashkent and one of four play-off winners from the West. 

“I think we have a balanced group which is good for us,” said Al Hilal board member and media officer Abdulkarim Al Jasser. “We had a lot of experience from last year and we will certainly qualify from the group. 

“I think we will start strong this time because we still feel disappointed from the result of last year’s final and this will encourage us to play strong from the beginning. 

“We have a good team, a good coach and good players. We hope we will have good luck this year and we will be better than last year. Other teams will be afraid of us, but we will not be afraid of them.”  

Defeated by Al Hilal in last year’s semi-final, Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates will also be keen to go further having come so close in the previous edition. The inaugural AFC Champions League winners have been drawn in Group B alongside Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab, Uzbek League champions Pakhtakor and a play-off winner. 

Elsewhere, Saudi champions Al Nassr return to the continent’s premier club competition after a three year absence and will be joined in Group A by Lekhwiya from Qatar and Iran’s Persepolis as well as a team advancing from the play-offs.

Finally, Nasaf Qarshi of Uzbekistan will hope to hit the heights of their greatest ever continental campaign when they reached the semi-final of the 2001-2002 Asian Club Championship by emerging from a Group D that also comprises the UAE’s Al Ahli, Tractorazi Tabriz of Iran and the final play-off winner. 

The eight outstanding places in the group stage of the AFC Champions League will be decided by the play-offs which take place over four rounds at the start of February with the first group stage matches set for February 24 and 25.

AFC Champions League 2015: Play-off schedule (West)

Preliminary Round 2

PR1        Qadsia SC (KUW) v Al Wehdat (JOR)

PR2        El Jaish (QAT) v Al Nahda (OMN)

PR3        Al Jazira (UAE) v Bye

PR4        Al Sadd v Riffa (BHR)

All matches to be played on February 10, 2015

Play-off Stage

PO1        Al Ahli (KSA) v Winner PR1

PO2        Naft Tehran (IRN) v Winner PR2

PO3        Bunyodkor (UZB) v Al Jazira (UAE)

PO4        Al Wahda (UAE) v PR4

All matches to be played on February 17, 2015

AFC Champions League 2015: Group Stage (West)

GROUP A

A1          Al Nassr (KSA)     

A2          Lekhwiya (QAT)

A3          Persepolis (IRN)

A4          Winner PO3 (West)

GROUP B

B1           Pakhtakor (UZB)

B2           Al Shabab (KSA)

B3           Al Ain (UAE)

B4           Winner PO2 (West)

GROUP C

C1           Foolad Khuzestan (IRN)

C2           Lokomotiv (UZB)

C3           Al Hilal (KSA)

C4           Winner PO4 (West)

GROUP D

D1          Al Ahli (UAE)

D2          Tractorsazi Tabriz (IRN)

D3          Nasaf (UZB)

D4          Winner PO1 (West)

AFC Champions League 2015: Play-off schedule (East)

Preliminary Round 1

PR1.1     Persib Bandung (IDN) v Bye

PR1.2     Kitchee (HKG) v Bye

PR1.3     Yadanarbon (MYA) v Warriors FC (SIN)

PR1.4     Johor Darul Ta’zim (MAS) v Bengalura FC (IND)

All matches to be played on February 4, 2015

Preliminary Round 2

PR2.1     Hanoi T&T (VIE) v Persib Bandung (IDN)

PR2.2     Chonburi FC (THA) v Kitchee (HKG)

PR2.3     Guangzhou R&F v Winner PR1.3

PR2.4     Bangkok Glass (THA) v Winner PR1.4

All matches to be played on February 10, 2015

Play-off Stage

PO1        FC Seoul (THA) v Winner PR2.1

PO2        Japan 4th Club (JPN) v Winner PR2.2

PO3        Central Coast Mariners (AUS) v Winner PR2.3

PO4        Beijing Guoan (CHN) v Winner PR2.4

All matches to be played on February 17, 2015

AFC Champions League 2015: Group Stage (East)

GROUP E

E1           Jeonbuk Motors (KOR)

E2           Shandong Luneng (CHN)

E3           Binh Duong (VIE)

E4           Winner PO2 (East)

GROUP F

F1           Gamba Osaka (JPN)

F2           Seongnam FC (KOR)

F3           Buriram United (THA)

F4           Winner PO3 (East)

GROUP G

G1          Brisbane Roar (AUS)

G2          Japan 2nd Club (JPN)

G3          Suwon Bluewings (KOR)

G4          Winner PO4 (East)

GROUP H

H1          Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN)

H2          Western Sydney Wanderers (AUS)

H3          Japan 3rd Club (JPN)

H4          Winner PO1 (East)