Chairman Huu Thang replaces Coach Tran Minh Chien to lead Ho Chi Minh City Club; Quang Hai, Van Lam are about to return home to join the team?

Chairman Huu Thang replaces Coach Tran Minh ChienLead Ho Chi Minh City Club

Ho Chi Minh City Club has made personnel adjustments before the match against Binh Dinh. Mr. Minh Chien will retire as technical director, and the direction will be taken care of by Mr. Huu Thang.

"Coach Minh Chien is feeling stressed and needs to rest, so we have made a change. Mr. Huu Thang will temporarily take over the leadership until there is a change," the team leader said about the decision to transfer.

A week ago, Mr. Chien proactively asked to resign but was not accepted. Yesterday, Ho Chi Minh City Club lost 1-2 to Nam Dinh at Thien Truong Stadium. The team fell to the second bottom and was only 2 points ahead of Saigon Club.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Thang (shirt) will be the interim coach replacing Mr. Minh Chien (middle). Photo:Quang Thinh

The pressure is weighing heavily on Coach Tran Minh Chien's chair. He confided that he feels doubtful about his own ability so he cannot continue. Ho Chi Minh City Club needs another coach to be able to escape this difficult situation.

Perhaps that is why Chairman Huu Thang was assigned to coach from round 12. The match that the former defender from Nghe An took charge of was the match to welcome the "new giant" Binh Dinh Club, a team that had just lost and was very thirsty for points.

The last time Mr. Thang took over coaching was when Ho Chi Minh City Club had a dispute with Coach Chung Hae-seong in July 2020. At that time, the team had performance problems. Mr. Thang only coached one training session and then handed it over to Mr. Lu Dinh Tuan.

Mr. Huu Thang joined Ho Chi Minh City Club as chairman, replacing former striker Le Cong Vinh in May 2018. This is his second time as a coach but he has not been able to take the field to direct. If nothing changes, Mr. Thang will be registered for the position in round 12.

In addition, Ho Chi Minh City Club will welcome Lee Nguyen back on the evening of August 9. The Vietnamese-American midfielder left open the possibility of playing in the match against Binh Dinh at Thong Nhat Stadium.

Vietnam to face Thailand in semi-finals of 2022 Southeast Asian U16 tournament

Winning the last ticket to the semi-finals, the Vietnam U16 team will face rival Thailand U16 to compete for a ticket to the final match of the 2022 Southeast Asian U16 tournament.

On the afternoon of August 8, the 2-2 draw between the U16 Australia team and the U16 Malaysia team helped the U16 Vietnam football team win the right to enter the semi-finals of the 2022 Southeast Asian U16 Championship.

Specifically, in the final match of Group C, the Myanmar U16 team won 1-0 against the Cambodian U16 team and ranked first in Group C with 7 points. Meanwhile, the Malaysian U16 team was held to a 2-2 draw by the Australian U16 team and only won 5 points.

The Vietnam U16 team will face the Thailand U16 team in the semi-finals.

TeamU16 Vietnamwith 6 points more than the other second-placed teams, the Laos U16 team and the Malaysia U16 team (both with 5 points). Thereby, the Vietnam U16 team won the right to enter the semi-finals of the 2022 Southeast Asian U16 Championship to meet the first team of Group B, the Thailand U16 team. The Indonesia U16 team will meet the first team of Group C, the Myanmar U16 team.

According to the match schedule, the U16 Vietnam team will meet the U16 Thailand team at 3:30 p.m. on August 10. The second semi-final match will take place between U16 Indonesia and U16 Myanmar at 8:00 p.m. on August 10.

Phan Tuan Tai and Nham Manh Dung return to Viettel squad

Two young players of Viettel Club are fit enough to compete in the upcoming AFC Cup after recovering from injuries.

On the afternoon of August 8, Nham Manh Dung and Phan Tuan Tai went to the field to practice with their teammates, preparing for the match against Kuala Lumpur City FC in the 2022 AFC Cup regional semi-finals.

Nham Manh Dung has fully recovered from his ankle injury, then he contracted influenza A and was absent from the last rounds. Although his junior Phan Tuan Tai was not injured, he was infected by his teammates and was also absent from round 11.

Nham Manh Dung has returned to training after a period of injury.

Preparing for the match taking place on August 10, the Vietnamese representative also welcomed the return of captain Bui Tien Dung. The central defender born in 1995 has just gone through a long period of absence due to injury. In the afternoon practice session on August 8, Tien Dung entered the field to practice with his teammates. However, whether this player can play or not depends on his own physical strength.

Meanwhile, center back Nguyen Duc Chien is having a minor knee problem. The player born in 1998 was injured in the AFF Cup group stage at the end of June. He returned to play in round 11 of the V.League when he was in the starting lineup and played the entire match against Binh Duong Club.

According to information from Viettel Club's medical team, Duc Chien's condition is not serious and he can still practice lightly with the team.

Viettel Club will host Kuala Lumpur City FC at 6pm on August 10. At the AFC Cup 2022, this team chose Thong Nhat Stadium as their home ground. Coach Bae Ji-won and his students arrived in Ho Chi Minh City from August 6, one day after playing in round 11 of V.League 2022 at Hang Day Stadium.

In the group stage, Viettel won all 3 matches and ranked first in Group I. Kuala Lumpur City FC ranked second in Group H with one win and one loss to secure the only ticket for the second-place team in Southeast Asia to the semi-finals.

Quang Hai, Van Lam are about to return home to join the army?

Quang Hai has only played 2 matches with Pau FC, playing a total of 98 minutes in Ligue 2, while Van Lam has not played a single minute in J-League 1.

On August 8, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) announced plans to organize an international friendly tournament on the occasion of FIFA Day next September. Accordingly, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team will gather on September 17, play friendly matches with the Singapore team on September 21 and India on September 27.

The issue that fans are concerned about is whether the team will have two players playing abroad: midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai (Pau Club, Ligue 2 - France) and Dang Van Lam (Cerezo Osaka Club, J-League 1 - Japan) or not?

In theory, Clubs are obliged to release players to national teams for matches on FIFA Day.

Dang Van Lam and Quang Hai may join the Vietnamese team on the upcoming FIFA Day.

On the other hand, according to the Ligue-2 and J-League 1 schedules, Quang Hai's Pau Club and Van Lam's Cerezo Osaka Club both have no scheduled matches from after the match on September 17 to before the match on October 1. This is also the time when the Vietnamese team plays friendly matches.

Therefore, Quang Hai and Van Lam can completely return home to join the national team.

Previously,Coach Park Hang-seoThere was an intention to call Quang Hai to the U23+3 team to play in SEA Games 31 but it was unsuccessful. At that time, Quang Hai was a free agent and wanted to go abroad early to adapt and get acquainted with the new club.

Quang Hai has only played 2 matches with Pau FC, playing a total of 90 minutes in Ligue 2. Meanwhile, Van Lam has not played a single minute in J-League 1.

Participating in the friendly tournament organized by VFF is also an opportunity for Coach Park Hang-seo to check the performance of Quang Hai and Van Lam, aiming for the AFF Cup in December.