Vidmar lauds resilience of his Rabbits
BG Pathum United coach Aurelio Vidmar praised the winning mindset that saw the Thai League 1 champions come from behind to beat Vietnam’s Viettel 3-1 in Group F of the AFC Champions League on Monday night.
With the win, the Rabbits moved closer to claiming a place in the last-16 round of the continental club championship.
After four matches in Group F, which is being staged at BG’s Pathum Thani stadium, South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai Motors have 12 points, BG nine, Viettel three and Kaya of the Philippines zero.
The five group winners and three best runners-up in the east zone advance to the next round.
On Monday, Viettel’s Pedro Paulo broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute but three BG stars — Chaowat Weerachart (56), Andres Tunez (62) and Diogo Luis Santo (64) — found the back of the net within a space of eight minutes.
“We were very passive in the first half and couldn’t get our game going,” said Vidmar, whose men also beat the same opponents 2-0 in the previous game.
“We made three changes at half-time to give us a bit more aggression. I thought it was a fantastic second half.
“I have a huge amount of respect for the players. When you have the right frame of mind and attitude, anything can happen.”
Viettel, meanwhile, are out of contention as they sit third with three points but coach Heinz-Juergen Gede hopes his team will grow with the experience gained.
“We tried in the first half, but it’s not enough,” said Gede.
“We were not ready and not focused enough. We didn’t have any chance to beat BG Pathum United. We have to learn from our mistakes.”
Viettel face defending champions Ulsan, while BG Pathum play Kaya tomorrow.