Coach Mai Duc Chung: 'I am so touched by my student's gift of gratitude'

The match against Cambodia was also the last time coach Mai Duc Chung led the Vietnam national team. Before saying goodbye, he was awarded a “5-star” victory by his students.

Entering the press conference room with a radiant face despite having previously spent 90 minutes in the rain at My Dinh Stadium, Coach Mai Duc Chung expressed: “First of all, I would like to thank the team for their determination to compete with me and for having 2 victories against Cambodia.

These are very positive results for Vietnam in the journey to compete for a ticket to the 2019 Asian Cup finals. I consider myself lucky to have led the team in two matches and won both, even though Cambodia has improved a lot. I think my students were determined to compete to show their gratitude to me. That made me very emotional. As for me coaching my students in the rain is normal, I am used to the sun and rain."

Last night, the Vietnam national team had an impressive performance. On the slippery pitch, the red team's small-sided play still worked relatively well. "I didn't think the team would win so big. The 5-0 score surprised me a lot.

Before the match, the whole team was worried that the rain would cause few spectators and the field would be slippery. But when we went out to the field and saw the spectators cheering in the rain, those images were the motivation for us to increase our strength in the match against Cambodia,” said coach Mai Duc Chung.

In last night’s match, striker Nguyen Anh Duc brought many positive signals. Thanks to the persuasion of coach Mai Duc Chung, Anh Duc returned to the team and immediately became a mainstay for the attack.

“Before this training session, I advised Anh Duc that if he still had passion, he should contribute to the national team. The team of the whole country, not any individual. Maybe that’s why he decided to come back. And against Cambodia, Anh Duc’s performance was so great. He worked hard, actively, like a wall to pass the ball back to Cong Phuong and Thanh Trung to score. I’m very happy about that,” Mr. Chung said about the B.BD striker.

The victory over Cambodia has created many advantages for Vietnam in winning tickets to the finals and last night's victory also became the sweetest farewell for coach Mai Duc Chung. Perhaps millions of Vietnamese fans are silently thanking Mr. Chung for his contributions when in just 2 matches as interim coach, he has breathed new life into the team.

According to Bongdaplus