Coach Park Hang-seo: 'Indonesia is difficult to play, but the Vietnamese team is capable of winning'

The Vietnamese team will play the first leg of the semi-final against Indonesia at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, January 6. Coach Park Hang-seo said the Vietnamese team is ready for the match with careful preparation both physically and mentally.

The Vietnamese team entered the semi-finals as the top team in Group B, with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw, 12 goals scored and no goals conceded. Coach Park Hang-seo and his team will face Indonesia, the second-placed team in Group A. Under the reign of Coach Park Hang-seo, the Vietnamese team has never lost to Indonesia at any level. That gives Vietnam high confidence in the upcoming match.

Coach Park Hang Seo at the press conference before the first leg of the semi-final against Indonesia. Photo: Hai Hoang

"We are ready for tomorrow's match with careful preparation both physically and mentally. We will try our best to compete," the Korean strategist opened the press conference.

Due to security reasons, the Indonesian National Police only allowed Bung Karno Stadium to accommodate 70% of the audience (equivalent to about 56,000 people). At the same time, the first leg of the semi-final match was also moved up to 4:30 p.m., 3 hours earlier than the AFF Cup organizers' plan.

In the group stage, Indonesia often had to play early for security reasons. Coach Park Hang-seo said that using security as an excuse to change the match time is not acceptable, he said:

"Yesterday we couldn't practice because of the rain, the players had to practice in the hotel. I know that tomorrow's match will be moved to 4:30 p.m. for security reasons. However, I don't think it's okay, Indonesia is going to host the U20 World Cup, changing the time like this is not okay, they need to reconsider."

Also at the press conference, Coach Park paused for a moment to point at a Korean reporter and ask who that person was. The organizers explained that this reporter was registered by Indonesia, and was believed to be a media person for Coach Shin Tae-yong.

The difficulty for the Vietnamese team is that they have little time to recover. Not only do they have one less day off than their opponents, Park and his team also have to travel from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and then fly to Jakarta. The heavy rain on the afternoon of January 4 in the Indonesian capital also prevented the team from practicing as originally planned. The Vietnamese team only had one practice session to get acquainted with the Bung Karno stadium this afternoon, January 5.

However, Coach Park is confident in his team's victory. He has never lost to the archipelago team in his five years leading Vietnam, winning both the 30th and 31st SEA Games and two matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. "We have prepared mentally and physically," he added. "Tomorrow we will try our best. Indonesia is difficult to play, but Vietnam is strong enough to win."

Vietnam has a good squad when visiting Indonesia. The team has no one suspended or seriously injured. Only Nguyen Phong Hong Duy suffered a slight injury after the 3-0 win over Myanmar on January 3, but is recovering well. In addition, this player is not Coach Park's number one choice for the left-back position when Doan Van Hau is in good form.

Being a guest at Bung Karno is also a big pressure for Vietnam, because this is known as the "fire pan" in Southeast Asia, when Indonesian fans are always enthusiastic, even too excited. VFF had to ask the host side to increase security to protect the team. In the group stage, Indonesian fans blocked cars and threw stones at the Thai team.