Coach Bandovic: 'Hanoi FC players lost control after the first goal'
At My Dinh Stadium on the evening of September 20, Hanoi started well and created three good opportunities but Herlison Caion, Van Quyet, and Pham Tuan Hai missed. In the 30th minute, rookie midfielder Damien Le Tallec scored an own goal, turning the game around against a strong opponent like Pohang Steelers - a team that has won this tournament three times.
"My players probably lost control of their emotions after the first goal so they lost quickly," coach Bandovic said. "If we had taken advantage of good opportunities first, perhaps the match would have turned in a more favorable direction."
Within the next nine minutes, Hanoi conceded two more goals. In the second half, the team conceded a fourth goal in the 49th minute. Coach Bandovic admitted that his team was not decisive in man-marking, keeping the team too far away so they could not apply pressure. By improving these two things, Hanoi controlled the game better and had two equalizers from rookie striker Joel Tagueu.
The Cameroonian striker and midfielder Marcao Silva are also the two best foreign players. The remaining four names are somewhat lackluster, making mistakes or wasting opportunities. After that, coach Bandovic replaced Thanh Chung to replace Le Tallec, Dau Van Toan replaced Brandon Wilson and Pham Xuan Manh replaced Milan Jevtovic, helping Hanoi play better. Coach Bandovic said that the reason was because the integration time was too little so the players did not connect well, but did not consider such a personnel choice to be a mistake.
"After a match with a bad result, everything is always negative and wrong," he said. "I always tell the players not to care what happens because I'm the one responsible."
Hanoi ranked last in Group J, while Pohang Steelers led with three points. In the remaining match, Wuhan Three Towns drew AFC Champions League defending champion Urawa Red Diamonds 2-2.
The second round took place on October 4, Hanoi marched to Saitama Stadium, Japan with many challenges against Urawa. Coach Bandovic believes that Hanoi will change when it learns a lot from the loss to Pohang Steelers.
