Brazilian rookie and heavy responsibility at Song Lam Nghe An
(Baonghean.vn) - After parting ways with foreign player Alagie Sosseh due to his disappointing performance, the Nghe An team brought in another Brazilian foreign player, Felipe Martins. Although it was only a last resort, for this player, wearing the SLNA shirt was an opportunity for him to prove himself.
In the history of V.League and SLNA, the recruitment of foreign players has never been such a difficult problem for the coaching staff of the Nghe An team. At the end of the 10th round, the striker duo Peter Samuel and Alagie Sosseh failed to score a single goal.
If center-back Gustavo Santos scored 1 goal, Peter Samuel had 1 assist and integrated into the playing style, Alagie Sosseh became the most disappointing player in V.League 2020. Specifically, SLNA's Gambian foreign player after 10 matches only had 4 shots, all of which were not on target, no goals, no assists.
Failing with Alagie Sosseh's performance after more than half a year, SLNA sought a safer option, striker Felipe Martins - a player who played in V.League for Hoang Anh Gia Lai in 2019.
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| Foreign player Felipe Martins in HAGL shirt last season. Photo: VPF |
Born in 1990 in Brazil, Felipe Martins started his career in the Portuguese Third and Second Divisions. His best performance was in the 2014/2015 season when he played for Vila Real (Portugal Third Division), scoring 14 goals in 25 matches.
After 6 years playing football in Portugal, this player decided to go to Indonesia to seek a new challenge. Playing for PSMS Medan, Felipe Martins played 16 matches in the National Championship, scoring 4 goals before joining HAGL in V.League 2019.
In the shirt of the mountain town team, Felipe Martins played 10 matches in the second leg, scoring 3 goals. This achievement did not satisfy coach Lee Tae-hoon and he was not retained. After nearly 1 year of unemployment, this player was contacted by SLNA for a trial.
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| Foreign player Martins is ready for a new experience at SLNA. Photo: Hai Hoang |
In fact, Felipe Martins was a mandatory option because the pandemic limited the source of foreign players and the transfer market was also temporarily closed. Martins' contract was for 3 trial matches, but unfortunately, after only playing 1 match against Than Quang Ninh, V.League 2020 was postponed. Things became more difficult for him, but this was also valuable time for this striker to have more time to integrate with his new teammates at SLNA.
In that match, although SLNA lost, rookie Philippe Martins was the player who "dribbled the ball" the most with 6/7 successful attempts. Philippe Martins's passing accuracy rate in that match was 57% and his successful contests were 54%.
Showing his ability to coordinate, pass the ball and create opportunities in his debut match for SLNA, Philippe Martins still needs to improve a lot when he fired 4 shots that all failed to hit the target.
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| Foreign player Felipe Martins has the task of improving SLNA's extremely poor scoring performance. Graphics: TK |
Sharing about his goal at SLNA, Philippe Martins said: “I used to play at HAGL but was not successful. It was a good team but my playing style was not suitable for that team.
At HAGL, there is another player who succeeded after leaving, Romario. I believe that in a new environment, I will play better. SLNA is a team with many young players, with skills and desire. Together, we will overcome this difficult period with solidarity and the highest effort."
Since the time of playing the match against Than Quang Ninh, Philippe Martins has shown a very enthusiastic and professional training spirit. His return to V.League is no longer an adventure but this is the last chance for him to assert himself in the Vietnamese football environment.
In the past 11 matches, SLNA has only scored 7 goals. This is not only a challenge and burden for a new player playing in the striker position, but also an opportunity for this player from the land of Samba to make people remember him.
"We see extraordinary efforts from Philippe Martins. He trains very hard because before coming to SLNA, Martins did not play for a year. Perhaps because he failed at HAGL, he really wants to once again assert himself at SLNA."
Song Lam Nghe An and the problems that need to be solved when V.League 2020 returns
(Baonghean.vn) - After 11 matches of the 2020 V.League, a series of weaknesses of SLNA have been exposed. If these limitations are not overcome and improved soon, the Nghe An team will find it difficult to compete in the group of 8 strong teams to avoid relegation.
