Coach Nguyen Duc Thang: 'Quang Nam has taken advantage of home field advantage'

(Baonghean.vn) - At the post-match press conference, coach Nguyen Duc Thang, although regretful, was still satisfied with his players' performance. Meanwhile, coach Hoang Van Phuc admitted that Quang Nam kept 1 point thanks to their fearless play in the second half.

Coach Nguyen Duc Thang had his second match with SLNA, drawing with a winning position. Photo: Trung Kien

Coach Nguyen Duc Thang of SLNA Club said: "I am very satisfied with the spirit and performance of my players in today's match.

SLNA scored and continuously took the lead. Being constantly pressured, there were times when we lost control but overall this was a good match for SLNA players. Players Phi Son, Khac Ngoc and Van Duc played well.

In the following matches we will continue to maintain our defensive counter-attacking style of play, ball control, relying on a collective and trying to take each match one by one.

It was a pity because we were 2 goals ahead, equalized and then took the lead 3-2. Before the match, I assessed Quang Nam as an opponent with a very strong attack and we also limited many dangerous situations. Unfortunately, Que Ngoc Hai had to leave the field due to injury, causing SLNA's defense to not play as expected.

I think the refereeing is not good. The referee blew the whistle unnecessarily in the last minute of the match. Phi Son and his teammates were fouled continuously but the referee did not blow the whistle. And the home team players played fiercely, taking advantage of the opportunities they had to win back a point."

Coach Hoang Van Phuc of Quang Nam said that SLNA playing with only one foreign player was part of the reason why the Nghe An team lost points. Photo: Trung Kien

As for coach Hoang Van Phuc, he highly appreciated the performance of SLNA's domestic players: "We did not start the game well. In the 2nd minute, SLNA scored from a bad pass by a midfielder from Quang Nam. SLNA is a team with many young, even players, playing very enthusiastically. They scored a goal so they played according to their forte of defensive counter-attacking.

At the end of the first half we continued to lose focus. After the break we reminded the players to play aggressively, aggressively, fighting, but within the rules and playing balanced with the defense.

Quang Nam played well in the beginning of the second half with the dominance of the two strikers. This was a day when Quang Nam's defense did not play well due to the central defender's error in the third goal.

With little time left, we had a few chances but failed to capitalise on them. Otherwise we could have come back. I am still satisfied with the result of this match."

Responding to Nghe An Newspaper reporters about the difference in foreign players in today's match, the head coach of Quang Nam Club said: "SLNA lost points because they only played with one foreign player, which is only a part. As I said, SLNA were trained in the same training ground, with good and even techniques. Although Olaha did not score, he supported the defense and attack very well and was an effective bridge. We also want to take advantage of the force with 2 foreign players and 1 naturalized player because Quang Nam's domestic force is uneven."

Trung Kien