HAGL sows sorrow for Chinese football; Malaysia, Thailand have miracles
HAGL’s memorable journey
Just as coach Kiatisuk said, HAGL entered the 2022 AFC Champions League amidst suspicious eyes. Can a team that is struggling in the V.League be able to do anything when facing teams from Japan, Korea and Australia?
Overcoming the pressure, Van Toan and his teammates conquered the fans’ hearts with a series of brave performances, culminating in a 1-0 victory over Sydney FC. The continent’s top stars have many moments of embarrassment before the mountain street army.
HAGL had a great tournament
With what has been done, teachers and coaches Kiatisuk can completely hold their heads high when saying goodbye to the AFC Champions League playground. They have proven that Vietnamese teams with strong investment and the right strategy have the potential to compete in the continental arena.
Another important contribution of HAGL is the points brought to Vietnamese football on the Asian Club Competitiveness Rankings. This chart gives a relatively accurate view of the level of club football in Asia and is the basis for AFC to allocate places to attend continental tournaments.
Thanks to the 5 points won by HAGL, Vietnam is currently ranked 12th on the Asian Club Competitiveness Ranking, higher than many successful federations such as China or Australia.
Ranked in the top 16 federations on the Asian Club Competitiveness Ranking (Note: Order number, Federation name, Score won in the 2021/22 season, Total score).
For Chinese football in particular, being surpassed by Vietnam in the rankings is a big pain. Chinese media repeatedly mentioned the issue with mixed sadness and anger. They believe that the Chinese Football Federation must be responsible for the fact that the clubs in this country cannot come to the AFC Champions League with the strongest force and ultimately fail miserably.
Some Chinese newspapers also praised HAGL – a team built on a foundation of youth training with most of the squad being “homegrown” stars.
Thailand and Malaysia witnessed miracles
Of the 8 clubs that won the right to enter the 1/8 round of the AFC Champions League 2022 in East Asia, there are 2 representatives of Southeast Asia, BG Pathum United (Thailand) and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT – Malaysia).
This is the first time these two clubs have passed the group stage of the continent’s most prestigious club competition. And they overcame not by the tickets for the excellent second-place team but by the direct entry ticket for the top team.
BG Pathum United is ahead of rival Melbourne City thanks to more goal difference. The defending champion Thai League made good use of 2 matches against the weakest team United City to score 8 goals. With a draw to meet Kitchee (Hong Kong, China) in the 1/8 round, BG Pathum United has the opportunity to reach the quarterfinals.
JDT is more heroic than that. Sharing the same group with defending champion Japan Kawasaki Frontale and defending champion South Korea Ulsan Hyundai, the team from Malaysia still won the top spot with 4 wins and 13 in hand.
Johor Darul Ta’zim played in the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage.
Not letting the 0-5 loss to Kawasaki Frontale knock the spirit, JDT picked up as many points as possible in the remaining matches and ended up 2 points more than this opponent.
Possessing a squad like a miniature Malaysian team plus “terrible” foreign players, JDT is considered to become the flagship of Southeast Asian football at club level in the near future.
HAGL 1-0 Sydney FC | AFC Champions League
at Blogtuan.info – Source: Kenh14.Vn – Read the original article here
