National head coach Park Hang-seo will convene 35 players for the U23 team on December 1 to prepare for the final round of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship.

National head coach Park Hang-seo (second right) seen at the meeting with the Viet Nam Football Federation on Monday. — Photo vff.org.vn

Most of them will be players wearing jerseys of the U19, U20, U22, U23 and national team.

The finals will take place between January 9-27 next year in four Chinese cities, namely Changzhou, Kunshan, Jiangyin and Changshu. A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the event, including China who qualified automatically as hosts.

Việt Nam are in Group D of the final round alongside 2016 runners-up South Korea, as well as Australia and Syria. According to Park, the U23 event will be a fierce competition, so Viet Nam need to prepare very carefully in training so they’re at their best in terms of skills and physical strength.

To prepare for the AFC event, Viet Nam will hone their skills via the M-150 international friendly tournament held in Thailand on December 9-15 in which Viet Nam are grouped with U23 Myanmar and Uzbekistan.

After this event, Viet Nam will have a friendly match with South Korea’s Ulsan Huyndai club, who are fourth at the K-League Classic 2017, in Hanoi on December 21.

Park said the match with Ulsan Huyndai is very necessary for Viet Nam to prepare for the game with South Korea in the final of AFC U23 event. — VNS