Vietnam are ready to face Japan in the third match of Group D of the Asian Games (ASIAD) 2018 in Indonesia on August 19, according to midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai.


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Midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai answers media ahead the match with Japan in the third match of Group D of the Asian 2018 in Indonesia on August 19 


The match, which will be held at the Wibawa Mukti Stadium at 4pm (Hanoi time), will decide the winner of group.

“We are ready for the game with Japan. They are very strong but we are confident to play well,” said Hai.

Hai also said that his role in the team wasn’t important. The most important thing was how he played.

“We are ready to obey the training board’s tactics for the upcoming match,” he added.

Hai, who shone at the AFC U23 Championship final held in China in January to help Vietnam win the silver medal for the first time, has scored one goal for Vietnam in this tournament.

Vietnam and Japan both have six points and goal difference of five after two matches but the Vietnamese side top the group because of fairplay rule. Vietnam have not received any yellow cards, while Japan have one.

Earlier, Vietnam beat Pakistan 3-0 and Nepal 2-0.

Meanwhile, answering the Republic of Korean media, head coach Park Hang-seo of Vietnam said his team would try their best to beat Japan to top Group D.

Park said Vietnam completed their target of reaching the quarter-finals of the ASIAD, but are hungry to go further, starting with a win over Japan.

In other news, Vietnam’s female football team will first meet Thailand on August 19 in the Asian event and then take on Japan on August 21.

Japanese media praise Vietnam’s football squad


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Japanese football magazine Qoly praises Vietnam’s football squad. 


Japanese football magazine Qoly recently ran a detailed analysis of Vietnam’s U23 footbal team, in which it praised all the 20 players and warned the Japanese side to stay prudent.

More experience, they are arch-rival of Japan in Group D, it wrote, highlighting the Vietnamese team’s best performance, the runners-up at the Asian Football Confederation U23 Championship earlier this year.

The team sets an ambitious target at the table, and the Japanese side should never underestimate their power, Qoly said.

Praising talents of Xuan Truong and Cong Phuong, the magazine underlined that Truong had considerable experience in the KLeague, and he has been popular for his wonderful tactics while Phuong has grabbed attention of both domestic and international media.

Vietnam, together with Japan, will enter the next round after beating Nepal 2-0 at the 2018 Asian Games (ASIAD) in Indonesia on August 16. Japan defeated Pakistan 4-0 in an earlier match on the same day. 

If the match between Vietnam and Japan ends in a draw in August 19, they will enter penalty shoot-out to determine who will be at the top of Group D.

The men’s football event will finish on September 1, which features 25 teams in two groups of five and four groups of four. The top two teams from each group and the four best third-place teams will advance to the second round.

Having a landslide victory over Nepal to earn a ticket to the next round, the Vietnam Olympic football team becomes the first team fulfilling target at the ASIAD 2018.


VNS