Football commentary HAGL vs Yokohama Asian Cup

“For the first time in 17 years, we are playing on the highest level in Asia. This is an opportunity for the players. HAGL Learn. We’re here to try to show the best to our home audience.”coach Kiatisak Senamuang said before HAGL’s first match in the Asian Cup – AFC Champions League 2022.

It is a statement of knowing yourself, knowing the people of “Zico Thai”. The Asian Cup has always been an outsized playground for Vietnamese teams and HAGL’s chance to continue is not appreciated in a group with representatives from South Korea, Japan and Australia – countries top football in the continent.

The mountain town team is also not in good form at the moment. HAGL can no longer show effective play like how they topped the V-League 2021 before the season was canceled. The decline of the pillars as well as the adjustments to the gameplay of coach Kiatisak caused HAGL to malfunction.

HAGL’s only win in the first 5 matches of the season was a penalty shootout in the National Cup. The mountain town team kept 4 clean sheets, but HAGL’s biggest problem lies in the attack. Cong Phuong and his teammates only scored in one match.

Meanwhile, Yokohama F.Marinos is the reigning J-League 1 runner-up. The team led by coach Kevin Muscat is currently ranked second in the top division in Japan. Yokohama F.Marinos scored 17 goals in the first 10 games in J-League 1 this season, the highest in the league. Even the representative of Japan is considered as one of the championship candidates.

Before such an opponent, home is the biggest fulcrum for HAGL. The long queue of fans buying tickets at Thong Nhat Stadium showed that the mountain town team received great attention from fans even though this was not Pleiku stadium. In addition, the fact that Yokohama F.Marinos just arrived in Vietnam a few days ago may also make this team not able to fully adapt to the weather and yard factors.

“Yokohama F. Marinos has a very challenging schedule. We had a lot of difficulties on the training ground due to weather problems, but we tried to overcome it to enjoy the moments in Vietnam.” Coach Muscat of the away team said.

Probable teams

HAGL: Tuan Linh; Mauricio, Kim Dong-su, Huu Tuan; Van Thanh, Xuan Truong, Minh Vuong, Cong Phuong, Hong Duy; Brandao, Van Toan

Yokohama F.Marinos: Yohei Takaoka; Katsuya Nagato, Eduardo, Shinnosuke Hatanaka, Ryuta Koike; Takuya Kida, Tomoki Iwata; Leo Ceara, Elber, Anderson Lopes; Kota Mizunuma

Prediction: HAGL 0-2 Yokohama F.Marinos