Jordan coach: "Need a perfect performance to defeat Vietnam"
Having secured a place in the 2019 Asian Cup finals, coach Abu Abed is still determined to defeat Vietnam to maintain his top spot in the group.
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Xuan Truong and his teammates have 3 days of practice to prepare for the match with Jordan. |
Jordan has 11 points, two more than Vietnam. Both have already qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup finals. However, coach Abu Abed declared that his team will play with the highest spirit, and aim to win all three points to ensure they finish the qualifying round as group winners.
“I prepared for this match with the aim of ensuring balance within the team,” said coach Abu Abed. “There are some players who were not called up to the national team due to injury or poor form. The players called up are those who have performed best recently.”
“However, it is true that my players are not in the best physical condition. We do not have enough time to prepare, due to the influence of the tight schedule of the players at the club level. However, I hope my students can achieve the best possible performance when welcoming Vietnam. We need a perfect performance to win against Vietnam, and steer everything in the right direction,” he added.
In the first leg at Thong Nhat Stadium (HCMC), Jordan was rated higher but could not penetrate Vietnam's defense, ending the match with a 0-0 draw.
Compared to that match, the Vietnamese team also had many changes. Coach Park Hang-seo called up 14 members of the U23 team that just won the Asian runner-up position. The Korean strategist said that with only a few days of training, he wanted to call up players who understood his football philosophy and how to operate his tactical scheme.
