Coach Pham Minh Duc: "Thailand U23 is not U23 Vietnam’s opponent"

On 18 March, head coach Park Hang-seo and U23 coaches officially announced the shortlist of U23 Vietnam to attend the U23 Asian 2020 qualifiers. Accordingly, there are 5 players no longer in the plan of Korean coach: Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Dau Van Toan, Nguyen Vu Tin, Tran Van Buu and Tran Duc Nam. Previously, U23 Vietnam also eliminated 3 other cases because of not recovering from injuries, Tran Thanh, Lam Quy and Trong Huy.

In the upcoming U23 Asian 2020 qualifiers, Vietnam is in the same Group K with Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei. From professional prospective, Hong Linh football club’s coach (formerly Hanoi B), Pham Minh Duc said that U23 Vietnam’s main opponent in this group is U23 Indonesia, not U23 Thailand

"After carefully observing our opponents over the previous time, I think in this group, U23 Vietnam only has to compete for the first and second place against U23 Indonesia. At this time, Thailand is not really strong. Thai football is going through a transition period between generations, so it is difficult to face Vietnam or Indonesia ".

About the victory over Taiwan, Mr. Duc said: "We should not be overjoyed when we win over the weak team like U23 Taiwan. This victory can only meet the requirements of assembling and testing. Before the tournament like U23 Asian 2020 qualifiers, I think U23 Vietnam should choose friendly matches against stronger teams.

If we cannot invite strong foreign teams to come here, then the friendly matches against V-League teams is also quite satisfactory. Domestic teams are also taking a break from V-League, which is very suitable time. "

Currently, head coach Park Hang Seo and his team of 29 players continue the training process for the Asian U23 qualifier 2020. It is known that by 21 March, coach Park Hang Seo will close the official list including 23 final names selected. The first match of Vietnam national team will be a confrontation against the weakest rated opponent of U23 Brunei on 22 March.