Coach Thanh Hoa: 'V-League is the hardest in Southeast Asia'

"I worked in Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand before going to Vietnam. Honestly, the V-League is a very fierce tournament," said Coach Popov after the 0-0 draw on Hanoi FC's field in round 4. V-League 2022. "It is more difficult to win a match in the V-League. Firstly because the pitch is bad, it is difficult to deploy the ball. The second is the issue of the referee. And the third is that the players are very strong physically. ".

Coach Popov was born in 1976 in Bulgaria, has 23 years of military experience. He used to lead the clubs of Bulgaria, Moldova, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar U23 before coming to Thanh Hoa club on the eve of the V-League 2023. The 47-year-old leader immediately helped the Thanh team transform when unbeaten for four years. In the first round, winning eight points, rising to second, only behind Hanoi in goal difference.

Yesterday, Thanh Hoa played on par with Hanoi even though they did not have as many stars as their opponents and had to play away - where they lost 11 of the last 12 matches. Coach Popov's army launched seven shots like the home team, but more on target. They just lacked a bit of luck when the shots of Trong Hung, Bruno and Lam Ti Phong came out narrowly.

"This is a great match for us. Hanoi is the defending champion, very strong but my players do well in all aspects," Coach Popov said of the match at Hang Day Stadium. "Even if I don't win, I'm satisfied with a point. But the score is not the most important thing. Most importantly, we show everyone that Thanh Hoa Club came to compete with the ambition to win, dare to play football, right? not on the defensive".

The match between Hanoi and Thanh Hoa was shredded by foul situations. There were a total of 34 times the referee blew a penalty, of which 18 were for the home team. When Thanh Hoa players made a mistake, Coach Popov constantly clapped his hands. However, he said it was not cheering violent rock. He explained: "I want the players to play strong, fierce, close and close. Hanoi play in control, if not close they will deploy the ball and be very dangerous. I want to win the ball. I don't have to support bad players to lose the ball."

After the 4th round, the V-League took a break to let the Vietnam U20 team attend the final round of the Asian tournament. Thanh Hoa will play the next match on April 8, as a guest of Binh Dinh.