AFC Champions League 2 schedule today: CAHN Club faces challenge from Australia

Hanoi Police Club has the mission to win to create an advantage on the way to pass the group stage of AFC Champions League 2.

CHALLENGE FOR CAHN CLUB

The match against Macarthur Club (Australia) at 7:15 pm today (October 23) is a big challenge for Hanoi Police Club (CAHN) at AFC Champions League 2. Because unlike the opponents that coach Alexandre Polking and his team have faced, Macarthur is a team that is really strong in terms of physical strength and physique. Established in 2018, Macarthur is not a big name in Australia like Adelaide United or Melbourne Victory, but the young team made an impression when winning the Australian National Cup to win a ticket to the Asian Cup.

Hanoi Police Club is undefeated in the group stage of AFC Champions League 2

PHOTO: MINH TU

CAHN Club has proven its ability after the first two matches, when it drew 2-2 with Beijing Guoan (China) in a dominant position, then defeated Tai Po (Hong Kong) 3-0 thanks to an overwhelming game. Mr. Polking's team has enough strength, technique, flexibility and speed to control the game. However, CAHN Club still has limitations that have not been able to overcome until now. Those are physical weaknesses (often losing the game and conceding goals in the last 20 minutes of the game), lack of concentration, wasting opportunities and being vulnerable to counterattacks when facing opponents with lightning attacks. To go far in AFC Champions League 2 as Coach Polking declared in the press conference yesterday (October 22), CAHN Club must both play and improve.

Coach Polking analyzed: "We watched videos of our opponents. They are a team with strength, physical strength, good wing attacks, and agility. Therefore, CAHN Club practiced tactics to best prepare for the match. In addition, playing at home helps us to deploy technical work well." In tonight's match, CAHN Club needs to cover the two wings well, which are often exploited by high defenders. At the same time, the defense line with Hugo Gomes, Dinh Trong, Tuan Duong, Vitao... also needs to compete well to maintain their position against Macarthur's strong strikers.

Coach Polking's students should also distribute their physical strength well so as not to run out of breath at the end of the match, in the context of a very tight schedule in 4 playgrounds, which can defeat any team. The lesson of defeat against Buriram due to last-minute goals in the final of the ASEAN Club Championship last season is still very hot, and CAHN Club needs to remember.

To overcome a physically formidable opponent, CAHN Club must control the ball well, utilize technique and agility to unlock the opponent's defense. Coach Polking affirmed that CAHN Club has perfected its tactics. Using softness to overcome hardness, using suppleness to overcome the Australian team, the Vietnamese representative will keep 3 points at Hang Day.

THE SADNESS OF NAM DINH CLUB

At Panasonic Suita Stadium (Japan) on the evening of October 22, Nam Dinh Club lost 1-3 to Gamba Osaka in the third round of the AFC Champions League 2 group stage. This was a predicted defeat for coach Vu Hong Viet and his team as Gamba Osaka were clearly at a different level. The Japanese team was a J-League champion, has played in the AFC Champions League for two decades and has a quality squad of domestic and foreign players.

However, the way Nam Dinh FC lost showed the huge difference in level between Vietnamese and Japanese football. Although playing with 8 foreign players, coach Vu Hong Viet's students were completely overwhelmed, unable to control the game and were penetrated by the opponent with scientific and coordinated passing moves. Nam Dinh's foreign players only created a disjointed picture, with sporadic coordination and dribbling moves by Marlos Brenner or Percy Tau. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese team's defense made many mistakes, typically in the goal to increase the score to 2-0, midfielder Ryoya Yamashita alone held the ball and dribbled through Nam Dinh's tall defense line, then crossed for Issam Jebali to score.

With tall foreign players, Nam Dinh FC has improved its stature, but what the team from the South lacks in the Asian tournament is not only muscle or height, but also the mindset of playing football. With a squad of players with modest physique, Gamba Osaka still makes the "giants" of Nam Dinh struggle to chase the ball throughout the match thanks to their superior thinking and tactics. Although they are playing inconsistently in J-League 1 (winning only 15/34 matches, ranking 9th), Gamba Osaka is still too strong for the reigning V-League champion.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-thi-dau-afc-champions-league-2-hom-nay-clb-cahn-gap-thach-thuc-den-tu-uc-185251022225712103.htm