AFC Champions League Elite - Polking rues missed opportunity for Ha Noi

Hanoi: Alexandre Polking was left disappointed after his Cong An Ha Noi FC side could not turn their dominance into a win and had to settle for a goalless draw with Kyoto Sanga FC in Tuesday’s AFC Champions League Elite 2026/27™ match.

There was also a sense of what could have been for Ranko Popovic as external conditions contributed to his Kyoto side not being at their best for the encounter.

Having dominated possession, Ha Noi had 17 attempts but with only five of those on target, did not maximise their play with the result taking the Vietnamese club up to four points.

#ACLElite | Cong An Ha Noi FC (VIE) 0-0 Kyoto Sanga F.C. (JPN)

“I feel a little sad, because we had a great game,” said Polking. “Overall, it was a good football match between two strong teams. As perhaps the underdog for the game, I'm very happy to see that we could compete at that level.

“Looking at the chances we created, we deserved more than one point. I feel sorry for the players because they tried their best, gave their all, ran, fought and created opportunities.

“As you can see, the best player of the match was the opposing goalkeeper. That partly reflects the performance on the field, but we know football is not just about performance.”

As for Popovic, the underperformance witnessed at Hang Day Stadium stemmed from the physical conditions of his players but the point earned kept the Japanese outfit in the top half of the East Zone standings on seven points.

“Yes, the reason is the players’ physical condition,” said Popovic. “We had to make changes because some players were feeling really bad and were very dehydrated. The dehydration was so severe that they had to go to the hospital for medical attention.

“For us, one point is a good and acceptable result. Next time, we will try to perform better and bring along players who are capable of playing in such challenging conditions.”

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