Coach Park Hang-seo explains the call-up of many U23 Vietnam players
The Korean strategist believes that the time for the national team to gather this time is short, so he needs the players to understand his tactical diagram.
“In fact, the team only had two proper training sessions,on March 25 and 26,to prepare for the match against Jordan. I was worried that the new players would not fully understand my tactical requirements. Therefore, this time I chose those who already understood how to operate the diagram," coach Park Hang-seo shared withVnExpress.
Coach Park Hang-seo only has four days to gather the team to prepare for the match with Jordan. Photo:Lam Thoa. |
On the afternoon of March 23, the team had its first training session at the Youth Training Center of the Vietnam Football Federation. The training session was light in intensity, because apart from the members of Hanoi Club and HAGL, the other players had just competed in round 3 of V-League 2018. Nguyen Quang Hai and Bui Tien Dung were also not present for personal reasons.
In the first gathering of the Vietnamese team in 2018, coach Park Hang-seo called up 14 new members to join the U23 team that made history at the Asian tournament in January. In addition, he also called up a number of experienced veterans such as Nguyen Anh Duc (Binh Duong), Dinh Thanh Trung (Quang Nam), Que Ngoc Hai (SLNA)...
“The 2018 V-League opened in early March. My two Korean assistants and I tried to watch all the teams compete to evaluate the players’ fitness, form, and attitude. Some players we were waiting for did not perform well, and others were injured,” coach Park Hang-seo explained the principles of player selection.
In the original plan, Coach Park Hang-seo would call up Tuan Anh. However, the HAGL midfielder was injured and missed the plan. In addition, captain Van Quyet also missed the chance to join the national team when the match between Hanoi and HAGL was postponed. In the previous two rounds, he was suspended and did not play, so he could not show himself to the Korean coach.
5am March 24th Vietnam team will leave for Jordan. The team is in transit in Qatar and will arrive at 7pm the same day. The match between the two teams on March 27 is no longer meaningful as both sides have already secured tickets to the 2019 Asian Cup finals.
“Before coming to Vietnam after the Tet holiday, I attended an AFC meeting. The information I have is that winning or losing to Jordan, finishing first or second in the group, only affects the ranking of the Vietnamese team when FIFA announces the monthly scoreboard, but does not affect the seeding at the 2019 Asian Cup. However, with the duty of a national team head coach, I will try my best in every match, even if it does not mean much,” said coach Park Hang-seo.
In the first leg at Thong Nhat Stadium, Vietnam drew 0-0 with Jordan. In that match, the Vietnamese team was led by coach Huu Thang.