Cong Phuong is expected before the first round of the J-League

*Yokohama FC - Nagoya Grampus: 12:00 Saturday, February 18.

Cong Phuong is one of 20 rookies brought home by Nippatsu Mitsuzawa at the beginning of this season. The competition will be huge.

HamaBlue newspaper evaluated Cong Phuong as a timid player, similar to Nguyen Tuan Anh - joining Yokohama FC in 2016. The image of him smiling and talking with defender Boniface Nduka and striker Koki Sakamoto in the last days of training is expected to appear more often, as a measure of inclusion.

"It seems it will take time for Phuong to get used to this place," commented HamaBlue. "We want to see the game that has tormented the Japanese team in the Vietnamese shirt."

At the 2019 Asian Cup, Cong Phuong scored twice against Iraq and Jordan. But, it was the quarter-final against Japan when he made a strong impression on clubs in Japan and Korea. Vietnam played defensively and counter-attacked, and Cong Phuong had many stirrings to make it difficult for midfielder Maya Yoshida and his teammates. If he was more accurate in his shots, he would have scored.

After the tournament in the UAE, Cong Phuong joined Incheon United to play for six months, then went to Belgium to play for Sint-Truidense V.V.

Cong Phuong officially joined Yokohama FC from January 6. He was registered to play as a striker, but he was not allowed to wear the number 10 but the number 28. Besides, during the training period, Cong Phuong rarely played as a striker, but was assigned to play as a midfielder.

"Does Coach Shuhei Yomoda want to make the most of his dribbling ability to help Phuong be named 'Vietnamese Messi'?", HamaBlue said. "During the practice match, Cong Phuong can pass the ball, control and support the attack. However, it is not easy to do it all well, including defensive requirements."

Yokohama FC just returned to J-League 1 after being relegated last season. In this time, coach Shuhei Yomoda wanted the players to show the nature of a challenger, by playing fiercely in both defense and attack. He also preferred to use two diagrams, 3-4-3 and 4-2-3-1.

Currently, the player list of Yokohama FC is 39 people, including six Brazilian players, a German goalkeeper and Cong Phuong are foreigners. Coach Shuhei warned: "We have a lot of players, so many will be eliminated before the game. But we still fight as a team."