Defender Pham Xuan Manh: 'Vietnam team is fully focused on winning tickets to the next round of World Cup qualifiers'

On the evening of March 15, in Hanoi, the Vietnamese team had its third training session in preparation for the two matches against Indonesia in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. This was also the first training session in which the press was allowed to cover.

Before the training session, defender Pham Xuan Manh gave his assessment of the Indonesian team to the media: "Through the match at the Asian Cup, we consider Indonesia to be a very strong and comprehensive opponent. They are a team with high fighting spirit.

Indonesia has recently naturalized many players, they play fast and aggressively. Therefore, we have to make passes with higher accuracy. In addition, the team must try to take advantage of the smallest opportunities possible."

In the match on March 21, the Vietnamese team will be a guest at Bung Karno Stadium with a capacity of up to 78,000 spectators, which is one of the big challenges for coach Troussier and his team. The defender from Nghe An also commented on this:

"To have a good spirit to compete at Bung Karno Stadium, the team's spirit is very good at the moment. During training, the team tries to maintain concentration and complete the training plan of the coaching staff. Bung Karno Stadium is crowded with spectators, competing at this stadium we have to face a lot of pressure. We have to concentrate to get the best results, thereby winning a ticket to continue in the World Cup qualifiers."

Talking about preparing mentally to face the naturalized players of Indonesia, Xuan Manh said: "The coaching staff has understood that Indonesia has many naturalized players. The whole team will try to analyze the playing style of each naturalized player, both new and old, of Indonesia. The whole team will have a meeting, learn from what they did and didn't do from the match with the opponent at the Asian Cup, thereby having the best preparation for the next two matches. Whatever is lacking, we will try to improve."

After the match with Indonesia at Bung Karno, the Vietnamese team returned to My Dinh to welcome the same opponent. Xuan Manh hoped that the fans would come to give more motivation to the "Golden Star Warriors".

"The whole team is highly focused, aiming for a victory against Indonesia. Only then will the Vietnamese team have a chance to continue. In the second leg, we hope that fans will come to My Dinh Stadium, cheer and give the team more strength to achieve the best result against Indonesia," defender Xuan Manh expressed.

The Vietnamese team will leave for Indonesia on the morning of March 19 and will have two more training sessions in Jakarta before the first leg against Indonesia on March 21. On the evening of March 18, coach Philippe Troussier will finalize the team list down to 28 players.