Hanoi FC spent millions of dollars to buy foreign soldiers to play in continental tournaments

Hanoi FC won the V-League 2022, thereby representing Vietnamese football to attend the AFC Champions League 2023-2024. The team in Group J is considered "death" with defending champion Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), three-time crowned team Pohang Steelers (Korea) and 2022 Chinese champion Wuhan Three Towns.

Responding to MetaSports on the morning of September 18, Chairman Vinh Quang admitted that Hanoi FC fell into a very difficult group, because the opponents are all the strongest teams in the continent's leading football platforms. However, he is still optimistic about the home team's chances.

"Many people judge that in this group, getting a victory is also very difficult for Hanoi FC. But we will take advantage of the home field, with careful preparation, with the goal of becoming the first team of Vietnam passed the group stage of the continent's most prestigious playground for clubs," Mr. Quang said.

Hanoi FC, formerly known as Hanoi T&T Club, was founded by boss Do Quang Hien in 2006. The team then quickly rose to become the most successful club in Vietnam with six V-League championships and three National Cups. participated in the year of the Vietnam Super Cup, and reached the final of the AFC Cup Inter-Region in 2019. This team also trains many good players, and is often the club that contributes the most players to the team, with good examples. Prominent faces like Do Hung Dung, Do Duy Manh, Nguyen Quang Hai, Doan Van Hau...

"Reaching out to the continent is the club's goal," Mr. Do Vinh Quang added. "After many times missing the opportunity to participate in the AFC Champions League, this year we determined that this is a very important goal for the club. Hanoi FC soon began preparations."

According to the head of Hanoi FC, preparations for the AFC Champions League began with the club finding a head coach with experience in this playground and qualified with an AFC degree - Mr. Bandovic. Next, immediately after understanding the regulations that teams could use six foreign players in this playground, the board of directors met and agreed that Hanoi FC would use the maximum to be able to compete with top teams. continents.

"The difference between teams participating in the AFC Champions League is foreign players. I have also watched in recent years, especially teams from the Arab world, they spend a lot of money to have quality foreign players from Europe. When Crowned last season, Urawa Red Diamonds used up all foreign players," said Chairman Vinh Quang.

Hanoi FC only retains three foreign players who play well in V-League 2023: Marcao Silva, Milan Jevtovic and Caion. They also recruited three more stars, including Camaroon international striker Joel Tagueu, who played in the Portuguese, Brazilian and Saudi Arabia national championships, and a French midfielder who played for Dortmund led by coach Jurgen Klopp, Damien Le Tallec. , and the striker was born in 1997, trained at the English club Burnley and once played for Australia's U23 Brandon Wilson. Hanoi FC's six foreign soldiers are valued at about 3 million USD according to Transfermarkt's valuation. The cost to cover this group of foreign players is also very expensive, ranging from 400,000 USD to 500,000 USD per player per year.

"Inviting high-class foreign soldiers to Vietnam is not easy," Mr. Do Vinh Quang said. "Many years ago, Hanoi FC really wanted to have players worth millions of dollars but failed. Because Vietnamese football was not yet popular at that time, football players in Europe only knew about Thailand. or Malaysia. Furthermore, Hanoi FC has not yet been able to participate in continental tournaments, so foreign players are also shy. But now things are different. The team has had good results domestically, and has tickets to compete in continental tournaments. shows that it is a good environment. Combined with our financial capacity, we have convinced foreign soldiers."

The Chairman of Hanoi FC also expects that in the coming years, quality foreign soldiers will not only come to Hanoi FC but also join other teams in Vietnam, thereby contributing to improving the quality of the V-League, to win prizes. reaching out to the continent.

"There are six foreign soldiers, plus domestic players who have proven their abilities like Nguyen Van Quyet, Do Duy Manh or Do Hung Dung. We hope to achieve our goal in the AFC Champions League. Hanoi FC We are also aware of our role as representing Vietnamese football, so we will have to play our best and achieve good results to preserve our image. We come to the tournament with confidence, trying to show our full potential and image. photo of Vietnamese football champion," Mr. Quang added.

Besides professional factors, Hanoi FC also wants to maintain its image in organizing competitions. Therefore, the team rented My Dinh National Stadium to play home matches in the AFC Champions League group stage.

Hanoi FC worked with the Management Board of My Dinh National Sports Complex, proposing to proactively spend its own funds and use its team of experts to improve the turf and keep the field of good quality when playing. AFC Champions League. Previously, this stadium was criticized by the Australian media as "half-eaten cow grass" when the Vietnamese team received their opponents in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Hanoi FC considers playing at home an advantage. The team also expects to have a large number of fans coming to the stadium to have more motivation to compete with strong regional opponents.

According to Chairman Do Vinh Quang, despite attaching importance to the regional arena, Hanoi FC still does not take domestic tournaments lightly. He said: "We have to allocate our strength, because it will be difficult for the players to recover at the pace of two matches per week. But the team's goal remains the same. Next season, the team is determined to reclaim the domestic championships it has won. recent crop failure". The head of Hanoi FC said that the two direct competitors will be Hanoi Police - the defending V-League champion, and Nam Dinh - the team that spends a lot of money to invest in domestic and foreign soldiers for the new season.

Hanoi FC finished the recent V-League in second place, with the same 38 points as Hanoi Police but with a lower goal difference (13 compared to 18). At the National Cup, Hanoi FC failed to defend the championship when they lost to Viettel in the 1/8 round.