CAHN Club will play against the opponent who just won convincingly against Thanh Hoa.

Only CAHN Club remains.

Thanh Hoa FC was eliminated in the group stage of the ASEAN Club Championship after suffering a heavy 0-3 defeat against PSM Makassar of Indonesia in their final match. This leaves Vietnam with only one representative in the tournament: CAHN FC.

After 5 matches, Thanh Hoa FC won 1, drew 3, and lost 1, ranking second to last in the group with 6 points (behind even opponents like Svay Rieng of Cambodia and Terengganu of Malaysia). Despite qualifying for both the ASEAN Club Championship and the AFC Champions League 2 this season, after only 5 months, coach Velizar Popov's team is no longer participating in any international competition.

Thanh Hoa FC (in yellow jerseys) were eliminated from the Southeast Asian Cup.

Thanh Hoa FC has withdrawn from the AFC Champions League 2 due to insufficient strength, and also bowed out of the ASEAN Club Championship with only one win.

In contrast to Thanh Hoa FC, CAHN FC is soaring high in the ASEAN Club Championship. Coach Alexandre Polking's team has defeated Buriram United, Lion City Sailors, Kaya FC, and Kuala Lumpur to top their group with 12 points. This result allows CAHN FC to advance to the semi-finals as group winners one match early, without needing to worry about their match against Borneo Samarinda at 7:30 PM today (February 6th).

Having already secured first place in their group, CAHN FC will face the second-placed team in Group B in the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian Cup. Their opponent will be PSM Makassar, the team that recently defeated Thanh Hoa FC. The first leg will take place at the Indonesian club's home ground on April 2nd. Then, on April 30th, CAHN FC will play PSM Makassar again at Hang Day Stadium in the second leg.

CAHN Club has already secured a place in the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian Cup.

Thanh Hoa Club is powerless to do anything.

Thanh Hoa FC lost to PSM Makassar due to individual mistakes, such as Thai Son's missed opportunity in a one-on-one situation in the first half, or goalkeeper Xuan Hoang's careless play, gifting a goal to the opponent.

However, overall, Coach Popov's team lost because they lacked the squad depth to cope with the very demanding schedule, spread across both the V-League and the ASEAN Club Championship.

Coach Popov has only had one fixed squad to "work hard" through 17 matches since the start of the tournament. The Bulgarian strategist has repeatedly shared that his players are overloaded due to playing continuously.

Take the case of midfielder Doan Ngoc Tan, for example. The player born in 1994 played the entire AFF Cup 2024, then only had 3 days of rest before Thanh Hoa FC competed against BG Pathum United in the ASEAN Club Championship. Although Ngoc Tan was very tired and nauseous at the end of the first half, coach Popov still had to let his player continue. Both Ngoc Tan and Thai Son are key players for Thanh Hoa FC, so they have to play at a high frequency, with almost no time to rest.

After being eliminated from the Southeast Asian tournament, Thanh Hoa FC will return to the V-League and the National Cup. In the V-League, although Nam Dinh FC has taken the top spot with 2 points more, Thanh Hoa FC still has 2 games in hand. If they win both of these matches, Ngoc Tan and his teammates will return to the top of the table.

Under coach Popov, Thanh Hoa FC often performed well in the first half of the V-League season, but then faltered in the second half. However, the team from Thanh Hoa has a knack for winning the National Cup, having won it for two consecutive seasons (2023, 2023-2024) by defeating strong opponents like Hanoi FC and The Cong Viettel in the finals.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ban-ket-cup-c1-dong-nam-a-clb-cahn-dau-doi-thu-vua-thang-dam-thanh-hoa-185250206102857492.htm