Yokohama FC to play SHB Da Nang

Japan’s Yokohama Football Club will play a friendly match against local SHB Da Nang at the city’s Hoa Xuan Stadium on January 20th, a representative of SHB Da Nang said yesterday.

SHB Da Nang player Hai Lam (left) plays in an international match in Da Nang. —  Photo Tran Lam

The friendly match, which will start around 3.30pm next Saturday, will form part of activities marking the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Japan and Vietnam.

As planned, the Japanese football club will begin training at the newly launched 20,000-seat Hoa Xuan Stadium from January 16th, according to SHB Da Nang.

Yokohama FC will train in the coastal city until January 23rd in preparation for the new football season in J-League 2.

SHB Da Nang will play the match under temporary coach Nguyen Minh Phuong, who has been in negotiations with Da Nang for the team’s head coach seat since former coach Le Huynh Duc left.

The Da Nang team won the V.League championship in 1992, 2009 and 2012, but ranked 9th in the championship of 2017.

The friendly match will be free for local football fans.

In 2015, Yokohama agreed a one-year loan contract with Vietnamese Nguyen Tuan Anh in playing in J-League 2. Two years ago, representatives of Barcelona football school in Asia and Oceania (FCBEscola) and Manchester City Football Services had working sessions with SHB on the possibility of constructing football academies in the central city.

The central city has hosted the annual Viet Nam-Japan Culture Exchange since 2014.

Japanese tourists were the second largest foreign group visiting Da Nang with more than 400,000 tourists each year.

Direct routes were opened from Da Nang to Osaka, Narita and Tokyo in boosting tourism between destinations in central Vietnam and Japan.