The Cong Viettel head coach Velizar Popov praised his players after they earned a 1-1 draw against Melbourne Victory in their opening Group E match of the AFC Champions League Two 2026/27 at Hang Day Stadium on September 16.
The result represented an encouraging start to The Cong Viettel’s continental campaign, particularly with the Vietnamese side missing several important players through injury.
Speaking after the match, Popov expressed satisfaction with both the performance and the point earned by his team.
“I am proud of the players. They showed everything they had. Earning a point is a success for us considering we are missing many important players,” Popov said.
“In fact, with a little luck, we could have won because the players created some clear goalscoring opportunities. But luck is something you cannot control.”
Popov also singled out Phan Tuan Tai for praise after the defender produced an impressive performance. His cross played a key role in The Cong Viettel’s second-half equalizer.
According to the Bulgarian coach, repeatedly attacking Melbourne Victory from wide areas was a deliberate part of his tactical approach.
“That was part of our tactics. Although the Melbourne players have good physical attributes, they still have difficulties when opponents deliver crosses. We tried to put them under pressure and force them into mistakes,” Popov explained.
“If you only cross the ball once or twice, what are the chances of the opponent making a mistake? Almost zero. But if you cross 20 times, perhaps they will make two or three mistakes. That is exactly what happened.”
The battle for qualification from Group E could prove highly competitive, with The Cong Viettel and Melbourne Victory joined by South Korea’s FC Seoul and Indonesia’s Persib Bandung.
Persib produced the biggest surprise of the opening round by defeating FC Seoul 1-0.
Popov believes that result has made the group even more unpredictable.
“That result makes the situation in the group more complicated. Seoul underestimated their opponents, started with 11 reserve players and paid the price,” he said.
“I checked that information and also saw Persib’s strength. They have spent a lot of money on foreign players. Our next match away in Indonesia will be extremely difficult.”
Melbourne Victory head coach Giovanni Savarese, meanwhile, was satisfied to leave Hanoi with a point.
“Leaving Vietnam with one point is valuable. We were well aware that The Cong Viettel are a strong team, so we prepared carefully and everything went according to plan,” Savarese said.
“Of course, the players also made some mistakes, and they need to learn from them.”
The Cong Viettel will now enter the FIFA international break before returning to domestic action against Ha Tinh in Round 3 of V.League 1 on October 9.
Their AFC Champions League Two campaign will resume on October 14, when they travel to Indonesia to face Persib Bandung in their second Group E fixture.
VSN/RPT
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