Singapore team arrived in Viet Tri earlier than the main squad of Vietnam team.

Coach Tsutomu Ogura at a hotel in Viet Tri – Photo: HIEU NGUYEN

The Vietnamese team defeated host Singapore 2-0 in the first leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 semi-final on the evening of December 26. After this match, both the Vietnamese and Singaporean teams flew back to Hanoi on the afternoon of December 27 and continued on to the competition venue in Viet Tri.

The Singapore team flew to Noi Bai at 5:35 p.m. After completing immigration procedures and collecting luggage, coach Tsutomu Ogura and his team took the bus to Viet Tri at 7:15 p.m.

Because he was traveling by private car, Coach Tsutomu Ogura arrived at the hotel first. He was greeted with flowers and good luck wishes from representatives of the hotel and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Phu Tho province. After receiving the flowers, the Japanese coach immediately went to his room to rest without waiting for his players to arrive shortly after.

After a flight and travel of nearly 5 hours to Viet Tri, the Singaporean players could not hide their fatigue when they returned to the hotel.

Naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son takes photos with fans upon returning to the hotel – Photo: NK

Captain Hariss Harun, on behalf of the team, received a bouquet of flowers from the representative of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Phu Tho province, took a souvenir photo, then went to the restaurant with the team for dinner.

In the second leg, Singapore needs to win by 3 goals against Vietnam to get a ticket to the final.

However, this is extremely difficult when the Vietnamese team is still highly rated and plays at Viet Tri Stadium with a packed audience.

It is worth mentioning that the Singapore team returned to Viet Tri an hour earlier than coach Kim Sang Sik and the main players of the Vietnamese team. The reason was that the flight of this group was delayed for an hour.

Because they both returned late, both the Vietnamese and Singaporean teams only had one practice session to prepare for the second leg of the semi-final tomorrow night (December 28).

Due to the lack of plane tickets for the entire team, the Vietnamese team was forced to split into two groups to fly back to Vietnam. Except for striker Dinh Thanh Binh, who started in the first leg of the semi-final, the first group to arrive in Viet Tri at 6:15 p.m., consisted mainly of players who rarely played or did not play with the assistant coaches.

Group 2, including coach Kim Sang Sik and the main players, substitutes and key players, arrived in Viet Tri at 8:25 p.m., much later than the Singapore team.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-singapore-den-viet-tri-som-hon-ca-doi-hinh-chinh-tuyen-viet-nam-20241227222916935.htm#content-1