Coach Park Hang Seo at a meeting with the local media on August 18

At a meeting with the local media on August 18, Coach Park Hang Seo confirmed that he and members of the U22 Vietnam team have strictly followed the Ministry of Health’s regulations on Covid-19 inspection. 

"We know that the Covid -19 epidemic is complicated. Vietnamese football faces many difficulties, but to fulfil next year's mission, U22 Vietnam must group up now,” he said.

The coach said the team had fully complied with regulations on medical examinations. All team members passed Covid-19 tests before gatherings.

He explained about the summoning of nearly 50 players this time. “We had only two days for the first gathering, this time I called 48 players, including one injured player, who must be replaced. I and the coaching board did not have much information about this group of players because they rarely played in the V-League and even the First Division tournament. This gathering will be long so we called as many players as we can,” he said.

Coach Park said he would check players on three aspects: ability to play football, personality and ability of integration.

Regarding the case of defender Doan Van Hau, Park said that Hau’s ability has been fully verified, so he did not call him up this time. Moreover, he wanted to give Hau sometimes to rest as the defender has only 16 days in Vietnam.

The Korean coach admitted that the year 2021 will be very difficult because both the national and U22 team have many important tasks.

"It is not the time to answer the question whether the U22 team’s goal of defending the gold medal is achieved or not. But I believe we will do it step by step, as we have done."

He said efforts would be focused on the World Cup qualifiers, which is the most important goal.

Vietnam currently tops the group in the World Cup 2022 qualifying round and the defending champion of the ASEAN Football Cup (AFF).

Injured Lam drops out of U22 training camp Defender LeThanh Lam. — Photo bongda24h.vn   Defender Le Thanh Lam has had to drop out of coach Park Hang-seo and the U22 Viet Nam team's training camp due to injury. Lam suffered sprained ankle ligaments and could not recover before going to the training camp on Tuesday. Lam's injury came from a training session with his team Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) before joining the U22 team. Lam is one of six SLNA players summoned by the South Korean coach Park to prepare for the Southeast Asian Games to be held in Viet Nam next year. Lam will return to his team SLNA for recovery, leaving the U22 team with 47 players for the gathering running August 18-27. VNS

Huy Phong

Coach Park and his players undergo COVID-19 tests

Coach Park Hang-seo, his assistants and all 48 players called up to the Vietnam national U22 men’s football team underwent COVID-19 tests in Hanoi on August 16 in preparation for the start of their training camp on August 18.

Coach Park selects 48 players for U22 training camp

Coach Park Hang Seo has called up 48 players for a training camp to prepare for next year's Southeast Asian Games, where the U22 team will attempt to defend their crown.