Head coach Park Hang-seo has announced the names of 24 players of the national men’s football team who will travel to Qatar for the team’s training camp ahead of the AFC Asian Cup 2019, according to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

Head coach Park Hang-seo

The Republic of Korea tactician has deleted four names in the initial list for the Asian Cup. Luc Xuan Hung is ruled out by an injury while the three others - Nguyen Hoang Duc, Ngo Tung Quoc and Phan Thanh Hau – have not had enough time to adapt themselves to the style of the team.

Earlier, Park called up new players to his squad in preparation for the tournament, including midfielders Tran Minh Vuong and Ngan Van Dai, defender Nguyen Thanh Chung, and forward Dinh Thanh Binh. Most recently, defender Ho Tan Tai was called to the team.

Earlier this week, Vietnam had a 1-1 draw in a friendly against DPR Korea. The December 25 match was considered the final test for the Vietnamese squad before the upcoming Asian Cup.

The coach made some changes to his tactics from those at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 that Vietnam were crowned the champions. 

The squad will leave for Qatar on December 27. It will play the Philippines in a friendly match four days later before flying to the UAE on January 4, 2019.

Vietnam belongs to Asian Cup’s Group D along with Iraq, Iran and Yemen. They will face Iraq on January 8, Iran on January 12 and Yemen four days later. -VNA