AFC Champions League playoffs kick off with Vietnam’s Hai Phong FC
Incheon United is set for its first-ever Asian competition.
The club announced today that it will host Vietnam’s Hai Phong FC in the AFC Champions League (ACL) 2023-24 Playoffs (PO) on Tuesday, August 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Incheon Football Stadium.
This is the club’s first appearance in Asia. In the K League, the top three teams in the league and the FA Cup winner qualify for the ACL. Incheon finished fourth in K League 1 in 2022, earning an automatic spot in the ACL PO for the 2023-24 season despite finishing fourth as FA Cup winner Jeonbuk finished second in the league.
Incheon spent the offseason preparing for their first-ever appearance in Asia, bringing in resources such as Gerso, Shin Shin-ho, and Chun Sung-hoon. In the summer, they even brought back “Pangum’s Finisher” Mugosa. Incheon is currently seventh in the K League 1 (9 wins, 9 draws, 8 losses, 36 points) and in the semifinals (quarterfinals) of the FA Cup.
Incheon’s first ACL opponent is Vietnam’s Hai Phong FC. Hai Phong qualified for the ACL by finishing second in the V-League in the 2022 season (14 wins, 6 draws, 4 losses) and are currently fifth in the Vietnamese V-League (6 wins, 8 draws, 5 losses). Hai Phong advanced to the PO stage with a 4-1 win over Hong Kong Rangers FC in the ACL Qualifiers on March 15 in Hong Kong.
Hai Phong features Zheng, 28, who previously played for Incheon. He was the first Vietnamese player to play in the K League, joining the club on loan for one season in 2016 and making four appearances. He was then loaned to Gangwon for two more games in 2017. Other Incheon players who played alongside Vuong in the 2016 season include Kim Do-hyuk, Kim Dae-jung, and Lee Tae-hee.
In preparation for the PO, Incheon head coach Cho Sung-hwan visited Hong Kong Rangers’ ACL qualifying matches against Hai Phong on the 15th and analyzed them with coach Kim Jae-sung and a power analyst. Cho will prepare for the match against Hai Phong through video analysis and plenty of communication with the coaching staff, while focusing on the players’ quick recovery after the 27th round of the K League 1 against Gwangju FC on the 18th.온라인카지노
If Incheon United wins the PO, they will begin their journey to the ACL group stage in September, starting with the group draw at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 5 p.m. (KST) on Sept. 24.