Thanh Hoa coach mocks 'smart' referee

Thanh Hoa Coach Velizar Popov was not satisfied with the referee despite VAR, in the match Thanh Hoa drew 2-2 with Ha Tinh in the opening round of V-League 2023-2024.

VAR (Video Assistant Referee) was applied right at the beginning of the new V-League season. It is considered a solution to increase fairness in the match, but according to coach Velizar Popov, the match at Thanh Hoa Stadium last night, October 21, was not normal. "The referee did something very smart so that VAR could not intervene," said coach Popov.

Coach Popov cited the first goal conceded in the 9th minute. He said the referee ignored a foul by a Thanh Hoa player, allowing Ha Tinh to continue attacking and get a free kick before Vu Quang Nam scored. The Bulgarian coach exclaimed: "This is unusual behavior. We are not a big club, not Hanoi Police, Hanoi FC or Viettel, Nam Dinh, Binh Duong. We have no money, we are not a championship candidate."

Coach Velizar Popov of Thanh Hoa Club. Photo: VPF

Coach Popov then concluded that he did not want to say more to avoid causing a stir. He said that Thanh Hoa always tries to perform their best with an attacking style of play, focusing on improving themselves and encouraging the players to move forward.

Last season, Coach Popov received five yellow cards for his reaction, which resulted in him being banned from coaching for one match. This caused him to miss out on the chance to compete for the title of best coach of the season.

After the controversial goal, Thanh Hoa fought back and equalized in the 20th minute with a beautiful volley from A Mit outside the penalty area. Nine minutes later, the home team's defense made a mistake, allowing Quang Nam to break through and shoot diagonally, giving Ha Tinh the lead for the second time. But in the 37th minute, Rimario headed home a free kick to equalize 2-2, helping Thanh Hoa retain a point.

According to coach Nguyen Thanh Cong, Thanh Hoa always has good spirit when playing at home, so he chose to defend in large numbers, play counter-attacks and the draw is acceptable. But coach Popov said that Ha Tinh's defensive style of play is not what Vietnamese people want to see, emphasizing that his team always pursues beautiful attacks so the result is not the most important. "The best way to help Vietnamese football improve is to play the way Thanh Hoa tries to pursue," said Popov. "We have few national team players, do not have a good economy, and have many outstanding problems, but I am proud that they are performing very well according to our wishes."

Thanh Hoa (yellow shirt) equalized twice against Ha Tinh in the first round of V-League 2023-2024. Photo: VPF

Coach Popov came to Thanh Hoa before last season. Despite not having a very strong squad, he helped the Thanh team become a phenomenon when they went undefeated for 10 rounds, and it was not until round 12 that they lost the top spot to the competition from the rich team CAHN. In the end, Thanh Hoa finished fourth with only one point behind the bronze medal position of Viettel, the opponent they defeated in the penalty shootout in the National Cup final.

Earlier this season, he helped Thanh Hoa win their second title, defeating CAHN 3-1 in the Super Cup match. However, he once affirmed that he did not have high expectations for the 2023-2024 V-League, because his team had just said goodbye to many key players, while the league had strong teams ready to compete fiercely such as Hanoi FC, CAHN, Viettel, Nam Dinh and Binh Duong.

Hieu Luong

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