'Mr. Park led Vietnam to beat all Asia teams, Thailand’s just one of them'

It has been a long time since the last time Vietnamese fans witnessed the spectacle of Vietnam – Thailand in an official tournament. This life and death match between Vietnam and Thailand will kick off today (26 March). Only gaining the victory, coach Park and his players are able to win tickets to the U23 Asian 2022 Finals as the top team of Qualifying round’s group K.

Confronted with an opponent that Vietnam always faced in the past, Vietnam squad is, too, at their best like U23 Thailand, Coach Pham Minh Duc believes that Mr. Park's talent will be an important factor that can help U23 Vietnam dominate the match.

"I think Mr. Park can cope with strong teams in Asia, U23 Vietnam needs some tricks to encounter Thailand", Saostar newspaper quoted Pham Minh Duc’s saying.

“Mr. Park has various skills. I find it very difficult to guess what he intended. In the today's match against Thailand, I still wait and see how Mr. Park is going to do, whether or not he is able to overcome U23 Vietnam’s weaknesses and detect Thailand's weaknesses. This is something worth waiting for”, said coach Pham Minh Duc.

After two matches, U23 Vietnam is ranked second behind Thailand despite sharing the same 6 points, yet losing in goal difference (+7 vs +12). Currently U23 Vietnam is standing in the last group in the rankings of the second ranked teams in the Qualifying Round, if they want to get the ticket to enter U23 Asian Championship 2020, Quang Hai and his team must win over U23 Thailand.

Finishing tonight’s match without a victory means U23 Vietnam cannot decide themselves and have to wait for the results of later matches in other groups due as the other teams compete in the different time zone.