Vietnam, Brunei, Thailand, and Indonesia have demonstrated their readiness and confidence in the qualifiers of the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship.

From left: The head coaches of Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Brunei pose for a photo at the press conference in Hanoi on March 21

They are in all Group K of the tournament’s qualifying round, which will kick off in Hanoi on March 22.

At a press conference on March 21, Vietnam’s head coach Park Hang-seo said he faced certain difficulties in assessing players’ capabilities due to the short training period.

Vietnam is the runner-up of the 2018 AFC U23 championship, but that was the past and players have to focus on the upcoming 2020 tourney, he said, adding that those on the current team have too little experience at international tournaments, even domestic ones like V.League. There is a capacity gap between the current players and the squad at the previous championship who were more experienced. 

However, the whole team are determined to obtain the best results in the qualifying round, he noted.

Head coach for Brunei Stephen Ng Heng Seng said he learned in detail about the Vietnamese squad and his team will make the utmost efforts to limit the strength of the host. Brunei has made the best preparations possible for the qualifiers, with all 23 of their players now ready for the upcoming matches.

Meanwhile, head coach for Thailand Alexandre Gama congratulated Vietnam on its recent football achievements and progress. He said Vietnam has become a team that all others want to compete with.

He expressed his belief that with the foundations Thai football has attained so far, his team will perform well at this qualifying round.

Indra Sjafri, head coach of Indonesia, said his team is aiming to make it through the qualifying round, so they have also been closely preparing for the qualifiers.

Matches for Group K will take place at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi from March 22 to 26. Vietnam will face Brunei on March 22, Indonesia on March 24, and Thailand on March 26.

The biennial tournament has attracted 44 teams which have been divided into 11 groups of four. The top 16 teams will qualify for the finals in Thailand next year. –VNA