HCM CITY – HCM City football has shown intentions of putting a stop to its shameful results over the last two years at local football competitions as HCM City and Navibank Sai Gon football clubs have revamped their teams for the new season.
During the last weekend of the 2009 V-League season, the city football witnessed the relegation of two clubs.
Sai Gon United was relegated to the Second Division despite a 2-0 win over Hoa Phat Ha Noi in the last match, and one day later, HCM City also suffered the same fate with a 3-2 defeat by Binh Duong.
There was no escaping the fact that city football had no representative in the 2010 V-League until Navibank Bank surprisingly bought the Military Zone 4 football club. They renamed it Navibank Sai Gon and chose Thong Nhat Stadium as its home ground.
However, Navibank Sai Gon was struggling at the bottom of the table throughout the season.
The club was relegated, but the fact that there were six fewer clubs in the First Division operating as a business handed Navibank a play-off with Quang Ninh. They escaped from relegation with a 2-0 win.
After being demoted to the First Division, HCM City continued its poor performance and had a disappointing season and only until the last round did the club escape from demotion.
Change for better
But the upcoming 2011 V-League season, the so-called professional football season, could be a different story as city-based clubs have made moves to build their teams that not only have survived the relegation but also have enough ability to move into the top half of the ranking.
Navibank splashed out a considerable amount of money on players, bringing in qualified strikers Nguyen Quang Hai from Khanh Hoa, Brazilian-Vietnamese striker Huynh Kesley Alves from Binh Duong and midfielder Luong Van Duoc Em from Dong Thap.
While Hai is the most prolific local striker last season with 13 goals, veteran Huynh Kesley has stamped his authority onto the V-League with his vast experience. Duoc Em was considered a promising young player last season.
"With new players joining the team and good preparation, we will try to finish the 2011 V-League at least in the middle of the table. We hope that the worries over the relegation will not be repeated," said Mai Duc Chung, head coach of Navibank Sai Gon.
By recruiting a foreign coach and bringing in some new faces, HCM City, the successor of the famous Sai Gon Port, has also made its intentions clear that they do not want to be a contender for the relegation in the next nine months.
The club recently signed a contract with Croatian coach Vjeran Simunic and hired Singaporean coach Robert Lim as a technical consultant. They have also recruited foreign players Lima and Cokolic from fellow club TDC Binh Duong.
Coach Simunic said that his team was ready for the new season. He believes the club will not have to face a battle to avoid relegation, as they did last season. VNS
