SLNA - Can Tho: The confrontation of the poor

(Baonghean.vn) - The confrontation at Vinh Stadium on Saturday afternoon, January 14, is an opportunity for the Nghe An team and the team from the Tay Do region to seek the joy of victory after a disappointing start.

Returning from a 0-2 defeat in the North Central derby against FLC Thanh Hoa, SLNA players had no choice but to win against their “peer rivals” XSKT Can Tho. A win, even a beautiful and convincing win, was the only hope to gain sympathy from home fans after the lackluster, lifeless performance that coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team showed on Thanh Hoa field.

In the recent away trip to Thanh Hoa, the team's strength was not as good as the opponent's, and the weak fighting spirit was the reason for SLNA's "convincing" defeat to the home team. In terms of the actual match on the field, SLNA is still quite far behind what FLC Thanh Hoa possesses. Objectively speaking, this season the Nghe team continues to aim for relegation, and it is difficult to hope to find a position in the Top of the rankings.

The mandatory task of SLNA players (red shirts) is 3 points. Photo: Trung Kien.

It seems that SLNA's coaching staff is not well prepared for the new season. Foreign players have not shown their integration, domestic players have not released all their inertia after only friendly matches, leading to the lack of smooth and precise team coordination and being broken quite easily. What coach Nguyen Duc Thang's students need at this time is to meet an opponent as weak as possible. Luckily for SLNA, in the second round they played at home against a team that is not highly rated, XSKT Can Tho. This is a favorable condition for the Vinh team to overcome the shortcomings that were exposed in the match with FLC Thanh Hoa.

On the other side of the front line, coach Vu Quang Bao and his team marched to Vinh Stadium with a not-so-good mentality. In the opening match, XSKT Can Tho lost to Long An after taking an early lead. However, mistakes in defense caused the team from the Western Capital to lose. From defense to attack, XSKT Can Tho showed that they are a team with many instabilities. Against an "equal weight" opponent like Long An, coach Vu Quang Bao's students still showed such carelessness, so it would be difficult for them to stand firm against stronger teams.

The decline of XSKT Can Tho did not surprise many people. Entering this year's season, the Mekong Delta football team encountered financial difficulties. Private sponsors were no longer associated with the team, the main sponsor, XSKT Can Tho company, also encountered many difficulties in business, pushing XSKT Can Tho Club into a "belt-tightening" situation. As a result, key players such as Oseni, Patiyo, Dinh Hoang Max, Dinh Tien Thanh, Le The Cuong went to find other places to stay. In the hands of coach Vu Quang Bao now, most of the faces are not really outstanding.

Saying that does not mean that coach Vu Quang Bao and his team marched to Vinh stadium with a defeated mentality. XSKT Can Tho themselves also know that SLNA is now facing many difficulties, just like them, so the chance of the Tay Do team getting points is actually small.

XSKT Can Tho is no longer rated as highly as last season. Photo: Internet.

If we count the head-to-head record between the two teams in the last 4 matches, the advantage is leaning towards the team led by coach Vu Quang Bao with 2 wins, 1 draw and only 1 loss. In round 2 of V. League 2016, SLNA and XSKT Can Tho also faced each other on the field of the team from Tay Do, the result was Nguyen Manh and his teammates lost with 2 goals to nil. That is the basis for XSKT Can Tho to be more confident in the away match which is predicted to be "less good than bad" against SLNA.

Coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team consider XSKT Can Tho as a life buoy, the team from the Mekong Delta also thinks about SLNA like that. A draw does not make both teams happy, but if they win, the joy will be short-lived, when they are facing many difficulties./.

Le Thanh Hung