Cerezo Osaka coach 'particularly impressed' with Cong Phuong

After the friendly draw at Hang Day Stadium on the evening of December 17, Coach Kazuhiro Murata gave Coach Toshiya Miura and Cong Phuong many compliments.

“I was particularly impressed with player number 10 (Cong Phuong). He kept the ball firmly and moved cleverly,” coach Kazuhiro Murata shared after the match at Hang Day Stadium. “Coach Toshiya Miura seemed to have studied us very carefully, knew our weaknesses and he instructed number 10 to continuously exploit the gaps in our defense. One thing that was especially noticeable on the field was that this captain was trusted by his teammates and passed the ball to him a lot.”

Although he did not score, Cong Phuong was rated the highest by the coach of Cerezo Osaka.

In the match against Cerezo Osaka, Cong Phuong was given the captain's armband. However, this does not mean that he will be the captain of the U23 Vietnam team at the U23 Asian Cup finals in Qatar next month.

“This is the third match of U23 Vietnam in the preparation for the U23 Asian finals and for each match I will assign a player to be the captain. Cong Phuong is a candidate for the captain position but I will monitor, evaluate and decide in a month who will take this role,” coach Miura revealed.

In the match at Hang Day Stadium, U23 Vietnam had an exciting score chase with Cerezo Osaka. Coach Miura and his team were twice behind, but both times they managed to equalize. The home team's goalscorers were defender Manh Hung (minute 24) and striker Van Toan (minute 70).

“In this match, my players did not play up to their true abilities. The U23 Vietnam attack is very strong and played well, causing difficulties for my players,” said coach Kazuhiro Murata.

Cerezo Osaka is a team playing in J-League 2. At Hang Day Stadium, coach Kazuhiro Murata used six players from last season to play in the first team and one player will be promoted in the 2016 season along with a series of members currently playing in U23 Cerezo Osaka.

According to VNE