Coach Park: 'Vietnam is under a lot of pressure'

"I feel very happy to meet the coaches in Group B," coach Park Hang-seo opened the press conference. "We will try our best in each match to get the best results."

"Recent failures have affected the team atmosphere. Currently, the atmosphere in the team is not good," the Korean strategist added. "In addition, we are also under pressure because we are the defending champions. In addition to this group, Group A also has very good teams. I cannot predict the results. I only know that we will try our best. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the team is not allowed to go out, only moving from the hotel to the field. For players, in addition to physical fitness, mental health is also very important. Due to the travel restrictions of the Singaporean government, our players are also a bit affected mentally. Besides, the team has not really adapted to the food at the hotel. But for the sake of the whole, we have to try to adapt."

Having lost all the matches in the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia, Park Hang-seo and his team are likely to break their losing streak when they return to the "lighter" AFF Cup. Looking at the recent failures, Coach Park remains optimistic. "When playing against strong teams in the World Cup qualifiers, their level was much better than ours," he said. "We lost, but looking at it, there are also good points. Vietnam controlled the ball less than their opponents, but never surrendered. And the more we play against strong teams, the more we have methods to adapt and deal with many types of opponents more clearly."

Before going to Singapore on December 1, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team trained in Ba Ria - Vung Tau to prepare for the AFF Cup. At the tournament in Singapore, defending champion Vietnam is in Group B. The team will meet Laos (December 6), Malaysia (December 12), Indonesia (December 15) and Cambodia (December 19). "The opening match always contains a lot of pressure," Coach Park Hang-seo said about the match against Laos two days later. "Moreover, we don't have any information about the Laos team. We just think we will try our best to get the best result in this match."

At the AFF Cup 2020, Coach Park will not have the service of midfielder Do Hung Dung, because Singapore did not issue an additional invitation letter due to the strict regulations on entry into this country, there can be no exceptions. Previously, the Hanoi midfielder had been out of action since March, due to a broken leg after a collision in the V-League 2021. "Hung Dung was injured and has been out of action for a long time," Coach Park shared. "I brought him into this tournament just to regain his feeling and form, but waiting for Hung Dung to contribute to the team is quite difficult."

The AFF Cup, formerly known as the Tiger Cup, has been held since 1996. Thailand is the most successful with five titles, one more than Singapore. Vietnam has won twice in 2008 and 2018, in addition to a defeat in the 1998 final.

The AFF Cup was supposed to be held in 2020, but was postponed to the end of this year due to the pandemic. The organizers still kept the name AFF Cup 2020 for branding reasons. The tournament will take place from December 5, 2021 to January 1, 2022 in Singapore.