HAGL ready for AFC Champions League return

Coach Kiatisak Senamuang(left) of Hoàng Anh Gia Lai said that they are ready for the first match with Yokohama F. Marinos. Photo tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY — Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) will face Yokohama F. Marinos from Japan today (April 16) at Thống Nhất Stadium.

Speaking at the press conference on Friday, HAGL’s coach Kiatisak Senamuang said that the club will give their best to get a good result. 

“It’s been 17 years since HAGL played in the AFC Champions League. This is an opportunity for our young players to play in the regional competition. With home-field advantage, we will play hard and give the best we can,” he said

The Vietnamese side qualified for the competition for the first time since 2004, finishing top of the V.League 1 last season. This season, though, they got off to a slow start and are without a win in four league games.

The Vietnamese side has no injuries to worry about for the game, and no suspensions either. 

Nguyễn Đức Việt and Trần Bảo Toàn have been called up to represent the Việt Nam’s U23 team at the 31st Southeast Asian Games and are unavailable for selection.

On the other side, there are no reported injuries for the Marinos, but there are doubts regarding the availability of Yusuke Nishida. A 30-strong squad travelled to Việt Nam for the group stage fixtures, so coach Kevin Muscat has options to choose from in this game.

This year, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai FC of Việt Nam will host the games of Group H, which also comprises Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan), Jeonbuk Huyndai Motors FC (the Republic of Korea), and Sydney FC (Australia). 

The games will take place at HCM City’s Thống Nhất Stadium in District 10 from April 16 to May 1 in a round-robin format. 

The first round matches are between HAGL–Yokohama and Jeonbuk–Sydney FC, which will kick off today at 6pm and 9pm, respectively. 

There were three price stamps for the tickets: VNĐ50,000 for Stand C and D, VNĐ100,000 for Stand B and VNĐ200,000 for Stand A.

“The tickets for Stand A sold out in an hour. We are really happy that the fans purchased a lot of tickets to support HAGL,” a representative of HAGL said. VnExpress News