Ho Chi Minh City Club coach impressed with midfielder Khac Ngoc

(Baonghean.vn) - After the 1-1 draw against SLNA in round 12 this afternoon (April 8), coach Alain Fiard of Ho Chi Minh City Club admitted that the player he likes the most on SLNA's side is player number 12 Ho Khac Ngoc.

» SLNA dropped the victory at Vinh Stadium

Coach Alain Fiard at the press conference. Photo: Trung Kien.

Speaking at a press conference after the match, the 58-year-old coach, who once worked at French club Auxerre, said:

"Our goal in today's match was to get 1 point at Vinh Stadium against SLNA. Despite being behind, our team tried hard to attack and finally got the equalizer.

I don’t think Ho Chi Minh City’s equalizer was due to luck. When I sent in Hoang Phuong, he had a good ability to take free kicks. The first situation led to the goal, the second situation was also a move that made SLNA’s Nguyen Manh encounter many difficulties.

In this match, even though we were the away team, we still wanted to play a good game, but the bad pitch affected the way both teams played."

Although Khac Ngoc did not score when meeting TP HCM, he contributed a lot to SLNA's playing style at the present time. Photo: Trung Kien.

Commenting on the Nghe An players who played today, Coach Alain said: "Dinh Luat is the leader of the defense, an example for the players to follow. He had an excellent performance today except for the situation that led to the goal. And Au Van Hoan also ensured his defensive ability on the right wing.

The player that impressed me the most on SLNA's side was midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc, he has the ability to hold the ball and has very technical and agile moves. It was very difficult for our players to take the ball from him. Besides that, there are players number 10 Phi Son and number 7 Van Vinh. SLNA's young players are very talented and I see SLNA as a great team."

On SLNA's side, Coach Nguyen Duc Thang said that today the away team played a large defensive game, with 8-9 players on the home field, so SLNA had some difficulties in organizing attacks. When we pressed, there was not much space for the strikers to finish. That is why SLNA was not effective in attacking in this match. This score also reflects the match's development and I am temporarily satisfied with 1 point.

Trung Kien