U23 Vietnam 'confused' because of redrawing of ASIAD 2018 lots
The delay of the 2018 ASIAD host organization in redrawing the men's football tournament after the appearance of UAE and Palestine has made not only the U23 Vietnam coaching staff confused in preparing and scouting the opponents.
After the reaction from the UAE and Palestine about being "forgotten" at the draw ceremony on July 5, yesterday afternoon, July 20, information appeared that the host of ASIAD 2018 will conduct a draw and re-divide the men's football group of this Games, along with a new seed group.
Specifically, with the last-minute participation of U23 UAE and U23 Palestine, the number of teams registered to participate in men's football at ASIAD 2018 was increased to 26 teams.
It is expected that 26 teams will be divided into 8 groups, including 6 groups of 3 teams and 2 groups of 4 teams, competing in a round-robin format, with points calculated to select the top two teams in each group to compete in the round of 16.
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| Due to the redraw, U23 Vietnam has not yet determined its opponent. |
Host Indonesia is prioritized to be placed in the number 1 seed group with 7 strong teams of the continent including South Korea, North Korea, Iraq, Thailand, Japan, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
U23 Vietnam is in the second seed group with 7 teams: Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Palestine, China, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia and Bangladesh. U23 Vietnam and Palestine, guests at the 2018 Vinaphone U23 Cup international football tournament, are in the second seed group.
However, up to this point, the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) and the 2018 ASIAD Organizing Committee (INASGOC) have not yet agreed on a plan to re-draw the entire tournament or just add the two U23 UAE and U23 Palestine teams to the available groups.
On BHOnline (Malaysia) yesterday, the General Secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Mr. Datuk Windsor John Paul confirmed that the draw for the men's football event of the 2018 ASIAD will be re-conducted. However, the AFC General Secretary himself did not officially announce the format.
If nothing changes, on the afternoon of July 22 or at the latest July 23, the final draw plan and results for men's football at the ASIAD will be approved.
Meanwhile, the plan to focus on preparing for the tournament in Indonesia in August has not changed, despite the passivity in knowing the results of the draw and the match schedule.
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| Coach Park Hang Seo has not been able to research information about U23 Vietnam's opponents because he does not know which teams are in the team's group. Photo: VFF |
“After the success of the silver medal at the U23 Asia, Vietnamese fans will have much higher expectations for the team. We will try to achieve the best results at the ASIAD. Our goal is to get through the group stage, then we will calculate each match. Everyone also needs to understand that the ASIAD is different from the U23 Asia tournament, with each team being allowed to use three players over 23 years old, so the opponents will be much stronger. A typical example is the Korean Olympic team, they have Son Heung-min, who is playing for Tottenham. They need to win the ASIAD to be exempted from military service,” coach Park Hang Seo affirmed at the press conference introducing the U23 Cup Vinaphone 2018 international football tournament on the morning of July 19.
