Midfielder Chau Ngoc Quang: 'The Vietnamese team is ready to face Malaysia's naturalized players'

On the afternoon of June 8, the Vietnamese team had a training session at UM Arena, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), continuing the preparation process for the match against the host team Malaysia in the second qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup. Before the training session, midfielder Chau Ngoc Quang shared with the media.

In response to the question about what reminders or instructions Coach Kim Sang-sik had given regarding the naturalized Malaysian players, Chau Ngoc Quang said: “Coach Kim has thoroughly informed the whole team about the special qualities of the naturalized Malaysian players. These are all players with very high physical strength and professional quality, so the whole team has prepared carefully to be ready to confront.”

When asked about Malaysia's restrictions on the press, making tactical information more difficult to access, Quang shared: "We can still study video footage from their previous matches. The coaching staff has also made specific preparations and carefully analyzed to have effective countermeasures."

Regarding the integration of Vietnamese-American defender Cao Pendant Quang Vinh, Chau Ngoc Quang commented: "Vinh is actually a new player, but the process of living and training with the team has shown that he is a very cheerful, sociable person and is integrating very well. In some training sessions, the coaching staff arranged for me to play with Quang Vinh to increase the connection."

Responding to a question about studying Malaysia's naturalized players, Chau Ngoc Quang said: "As shared, coach Kim and the tactical analysis experts have helped us understand our opponents better. Each player in the team will be assigned specific tasks to respond to situations in the match. However, regarding specific tactical exercises, I would like to not share."

Regarding the team's readiness with the match only two days away, the midfielder affirmed: "Since the training session until now, the whole team has always been in a state of readiness. The whole team's mentality is very comfortable, and professionalism is clearly demonstrated through each training session."

Finally, talking about the feeling of competing under the pressure of more than 80,000 spectators at Bukit Jalil Stadium, Chau Ngoc Quang expressed confidence: "There will definitely be pressure, but it is only a small pressure. If I can stay focused, the cheers of the spectators will not affect the team's fighting spirit much."