Kaya FC-Iloilo rued its slow start against Cong an Ha Noi FC after absorbing a 1-2 loss in the Shopee Cup on Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Head coach Yu Hoshide said they weren’t able to keep up with the Vietnamese squad in the first half and were unable to get more chances in the second half.
With three losses in Group B, Kaya will not make the semifinals of the Shopee Cup.
We started slow today. I’m not sure why but it is either we are a little bit shaky or we had too much respect to the opponent but I wanted to be aggressive so after halftime, we put Mark Swainston, he can go around the midfield zone so it works,” Hoshide said.
“He did well. After maybe the second half, we woke up a little bit late for this game.”
Swainston was the only bright spot for Kaya in the match after scoring a volley in the 54th minute.
Le Van Do got things going for the Vietnamese side after scoring a goal in the 16th minute before forcing Marco Casambre to an own goal in the 28th minute.
Hoshide also admitted while they were able to train during the holidays, their fitness level hadn’t reached its peak yet.
“Of course, fitness level is not 100 percent yet. Maybe some players are 80 percent, some players are 70 percent so we have to train and train so that’s important for us,” Hoshide said.
Kaya will have few days to rest as the Philippines Football League is slated to start soon and Hoshide said by then that his squad will be match fit as they gun for their third straight title.
“Most of the players are ready to play so we have to do that especially last year. Everybody deserves to play in today’s game so I’m not so worried about this squad,” Hoshide said.