Tuan Anh is absent, Cong Phuong plays 8 minutes in round 36 of J.League 2

Cong Phuong played for 8 minutes, Tuan Anh was injured and could not play, so the anticipated confrontation between Mito Hollyhock and Yokohama FC in round 36 of J.League 2 on the afternoon of October 16 became less fun, especially for Vietnamese fans.

Cong Phuong warms up before the match. Screenshot

The Mito Hollyhock Club's match organizers did everything they could to prepare for this remarkable match with the aim of promoting the image of the team and the entire Ibaraki province to the Southeast Asian market, specifically Vietnam.

Overseas Vietnamese in Japan were invited to watch the match, and fans entering the K's denki Mito stadium were given Vietnamese flags. The home team Mito Hollyhock even entered the field wearing strange outfits (red and black) with the Vietnamese flag printed on their chests, next to the Japanese flag.

Not only that, the match between Mito Hollyhock and Yokohama FC was also broadcast live on Vietnamese television on Football TV channel to satisfy the expectations of fans.

However, all the careful preparations for the organization did not bring complete joy when at the last minute, Tuan Anh was not on the list of registered players and Cong Phuong, as usual, sat on the bench.

According to information from Japan, Yokohama FC head coach Hitoshi Nakata had placed Tuan Anh in the main squad, but in the training session on October 13, the midfielder suffered a relapse of his knee injury after a collision with a teammate.

Cong Phuong's image was promoted for months before the match in round 36. Photo: Mito Hollyhock

On October 14 and 15, Tuan Anh was unable to participate in training and preparation for the match in round 36, so it is not surprising that the list of players competing on the afternoon of October 16 did not include the name of a Vietnamese national team player.

As for Cong Phuong, before the second leg of the 2016 J.League 2 season with Yokohama FC, this striker's regular position was also a reserve.

Cong Phuong had only been on the field 4 times (3 times as a substitute, 1 as a starter) before but had not scored any goals in J.League 2 and his impression was insignificant. Particularly in the match on the afternoon of October 16 with Yokohama FC, Cong Phuong was only used in the last 4 minutes of the official match time plus 4 minutes of injury time.

Mito Hollyhock opened the scoring with a header from Junya Hosokawa in the 25th minute, but in the 42nd minute, Naoki Nomura equalized 1-1 for Yokohama FC with a beautiful long-range shot.

In the 70th minute, Takuya Miyamoto replaced Shu Hiramatsu and in the 86th minute, coach Takayuki Nishigaya brought in Cong Phuong to replace Frank Romero, along with the appearance of Ito Makito to replace Yosuke Yuzawa.

In the end, Mito Hollyhock drew 1-1 with Yokohama FC in round 36 of J.League 2. In the few minutes on the field, Cong Phuong appeared to be at a disadvantage in the disputes with the away team's defenders and did not have the ball to finish or show his ability to break through.

After 36 rounds, Mito Hollyhock is in 13th place with 42 points and Yokohama FC is in 8th place with 49 points.

According to TTVH