In the opening round of J1 League 2023 taking place at noon on February 18 (Hanoi time), Yokohama FC welcomed Nagoya Grampus, the top Japanese team, at Mitsuzawa’s home field. In the list of 18 Yokohama FC players registered to play in this match, there is no name Nguyen Cong Phuong.
With the J1 League organizers only allowing clubs to register up to 18 players in a round, Cong Phuong will have to make a lot of efforts to be on the list.
Cong Phuong banner fast food appeared outside Mitsuzawa yard.
The current Yokohama FC squad has up to 8 players playing in attack (attacking midfielder / striker), including three Brazilian foreign players. Besides Pinto (25 years old) and Ryan (20 years old), the Japanese team has another striker, Saulo Mineiro. The 25-year-old striker suffered a serious injury, so he was not registered to play.
The fierce competition on Yokohama FC’s attack makes Cong Phuong more likely to have to play in midfield to find playing opportunities.
Although not on the list of competitions, a banner with Cong Phuong’s image fast food appeared outside Mitsuzawa Stadium. This made many Vietnamese fans start to worry. They fear that Cong Phuong will once once more be a commercial contract, appearing only in promotions, like in 2016, when he wore Mito Hollyhock on a 1-year loan from HAGL.
Nguyen Cong Phuong spent the first training period of the season with Yokohama FC.
Yokohama FC has just been promoted to the J1 League this season and promises to face many difficulties in staying in the top division in Japan. With Cong Phuong, he carefully prepared for this experience abroad. The player from Nghe An did not attend the AFF Cup 2022 for pre-season training with the new team.
Last December, Cong Phuong signed a 3-year contract with Yokohama FC. He became the first Vietnamese player in history to have 4 caps for foreign teams. Before joining Yokohama FC, Cong Phuong played for Mito Hollyhock (J2 League Japan), Incheon United (Korea) and Sint Truiden (Belgium).
Back to the match between Yokohama FC and Nagoya Grampus Eight. In the 4th minute, Ryuji Izumi hung the ball from the left corner into the penalty area for Kasper Junker to hit the net of goalkeeper Kengo Nagai, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. After that, Yokohama FC tried to attack but might not succeed once, thereby accepting the final defeat 0-1.