Vietnam hotshots Nam Dinh were outplayed by a determined Selangor FC 1-2 in their first-leg semifinal clash in the Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup in Petaling Jaya.
The loss was Nam Dinh’s first in the competition after winning four and drawing one of their five group matches, and coach Vu Hong Viet, who was making his first Shopee Cup appearance in the dugout, was left to regret his team’s struggles in front of goal.
“It was a great game from both sides,” he said. “I think we created a lot of chances that were not converted into goals. That was a pity, but I think overall the performances were great.
“We still have the second game at home, and we will prepare everything to score more goals and to advance to the final. For sure, there will be some changes for the second leg to have a better result.
“There will be changes in the tactics and line-ups so that we are best prepared for the second game.”
Vu also said in an interview with Vietnam News that Nam Dinh is far from out of the competition and will come back strong in the second leg.
"The boys know the score. We have a great bunch of players, and they want to win the cup. It was never an easy tournament to begin with, and we still have a very good chance of going further. We will now wait and see how Selangor FC fare when they visit us next week," said Vu.
Meanwhile, Selangor FC coach Kim Pan-gon praised his players’ ability to follow their pre-match plan as the Malaysia Super League outfit takes the advantage going into the second leg.
Brazilian striker Chrigor Moraes scored twice at MBPJ Stadium to give the Red Giants a slender lead ahead of the return clash in Vietnam next Wednesday, when Nam Định will look to build on Nguyễn Văn Vĩ‘s first-half goal.
“It was a tough game and our opponent, Nam Dinh, was very strong,” said Kim. “It was a 50-50 game. I’m very proud of all our Selangor players; they are very solid, determined, and united as a team. It was very good.
“We made a good plan, and they followed all the instructions. It was great to see. And we appreciate all the Red Giants fans who came to the stadium to support us. It was a great atmosphere.
“We were aware that Nam Dinh are very physically strong individually, and as a team they are very solid. We were expecting a very tough game, but at home we wanted to win before we went to the away game. We put all our efforts into this game to make it an attacking strategy.”
Chrigor gave the home side the lead in the 38th minute when he slid in to meet Quentin Cheng’s cross from the right and, while Văn Vĩ levelled a minute into stoppage time, the Selangor pair combined again in the 58th minute to go back in front.
That leaves the tie delicately poised as Selangor continue their quest for their first major title in more than a decade.
“We have achieved only one part of our plan,” said Kim. “We expect another plan to be achieved in the second game, so we can achieve our target of going to the final.
“The players followed our instructions. It was good to see that we played as a team, not as individuals. We have good individual players, but there was very good harmony tonight.”
