Coach Gong Oh-kyun is no stranger to Vietnamese football fans. At the final round of the 23 Asian U.2022 Championship, he created great conviction, bringing a heroic image and convincing playing style to U.23 Vietnam in the Asian arena. He is also considered a breath of fresh air, creating many strange impressions compared to Mr. Park's military style when leading U.23 to win the previous SEA Games.
Coach Gong Oh-kyun is elegant in a suit
Leading the reigning V-League champion team CAHN is an interesting experience as Mr. Gong himself admitted. He understands how great the pressure will be when it comes to building a stronger and more identifiable style of football for this powerful team. In his first match in charge, Mr. Gong surprised everyone by using many faces that were previously only on the bench such as La Nguyen Bao Trung, Ha Van Phuong, Pham Gia Hung, Ho Ngoc Thang and even Nguyen Xuan Nam. This means that nearly half of the squad are not regular starters in the first 3 rounds of the V-League.
Ho Ngoc Thang (18) attacked with the ball
Coach Gong Oh-kyun himself once affirmed that he needs to know all the players' abilities, and the National Cup is an important challenge for him to close the gap between the main and reserve team. Bringing new names in, the Korean coach also creates motivation and competition with the old names. This arrangement forces Ho Tan Tai, Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Huynh Tan Sinh or even Vu Van Thanh and Bui Tien Dung to come in later and not dare to be careless because they could lose their place at any time.
Junior (8) competes for the ball with Tran Bao Toan
Of course, at the beginning of the match, the operation was not very smooth, so the CAHN team let coach Kiatisak's team score the lead. Dinh Thanh Binh stretched wide for Chau Ngoc Quang to rush in and score. But the more the CAHN team played, the more Mr. Gong Oh-kyun showed how to use people properly as well as make timely adjustments. CAHN's fighting style operates more smoothly. In particular, fixed free kick situations are always emphasized, and Ho Ngoc Thang's equalizer in the middle of the first half was very good. It was Bui Hoang Viet Anh who jumped up to head the ball above goalkeeper Duong Van Loi's reach and even though HAGL's foreign midfielder cleared, Ngoc Thang was able to rush in and kick the ball over the goal line.
The dispute between Bui Hoang Viet Anh and Dinh Thanh Binh
Although CAHN's advantage was not overwhelming in terms of position, it was superior in the final stages. The constant stirrings of the striker duo Geovane and Jeffeson along with very quick boundary plays helped CAHN Club increase the score to 2-1 in the 74th minute. From the left wing, the ball turned in, defender HAGL hit. At the beginning of the relief, Geovane immediately kicked a shot that bounced off the defenders, and Jeffeson kicked again and scored. This result is very reasonable, showing that the capital team's coordination situations are well-coordinated and responsive to opportunities.
The joy of CAHN's victory
The 2-1 victory brought CAHN into the 1/16 round of the National Cup against The Cong – Viettel. But importantly, Coach Gong Oh-kyun's debut victory against HAGL opened a new and promising era for the reigning V-League champions.
