Vietnam’s head coach Park Hang-seo has called up goalie Phí Minh Long to his squad to prepare for the finals of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship.

Goalie Phí Minh Long (top). — Photo thegioitre.vn

The 22-year-old was also named for the U23 team to compete in the M-150 Cup friendly football tournament in Thailand but before departing, Long was injured so he missed the event.

At the Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia in August, Long was criticised following his errors leading to Viet Nam’s 3-0 loss to Thailand, which knocked the side out of the tournament.

Besides Long, the South Korean coach also called up young defender Nguyen Thanh Chung of Hanoi FC.

In other news, Phan Văn Long has returned to Da Nang because he couldn’t recover from injury before the event opens.

U23 Việt Nam will have a friendly match with Ulsan Hyundai FC of South Korea on December 21. After that, the team will fly to China for a training camp.

The AFC Championship finals will take place on January 9- 27 in four cities in Jiangshu province, namely Changzhou, Kunshan, Jiangyin and Changshu.

Viet Nam will play their opening Group D match against South Korea on January 11 before taking on Australia and Syria on January 14 and 17, respectively. — VNS