Vietnam’s Asian Games football squad takes on Palestine in Hanoi on August 3, and coach Park Hang-seo has his eyes fixed on victory.

Vietnam and Palestine pose for a photo ahead the first match of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) U23 International Championship - Vinaphone Cup 2018 on August 3 (Photo: vff.org.vn)

Park was speaking at a pre-match press conference in Hanoi on August 2 ahead of the first match of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) U23 International Championship - Vinaphone Cup 2018.

“Following the AFC U23 Championship held in China in January in which Vietnam were the runners-up for the first time in history, we received good feelings of Vietnamese fans. But I need to say that the upcoming friendly event is a chance for us to select players and raise our tactics. However, we won’t disregard it and don’t think that this event is to enjoy ourselves. A coach in Vietnam or the Republic of Korea has pressure. It’s normal so I won’t worry much. We will try our best to win,” said RoK coach Park.

This friendly event is the preparation for the Vietnamese team ahead of the Asian Games (ASIAD) 18 in Indonesia, with the men’s football set to kick off on August 14 and finish on September 1.

To prepare for the Vinaphone Cup, Park chose 30 players and he plans to use all of them in the event to be held at My Dinh National Stadium.

“After the friendly event concludes, I will announce the official line-up for the ASIAD,” said Park.

“I will use all 30 players in the cup. They will have a chance to show their skills and desire to dedicate to their team. This is a very important event to help Vietnam prepare better for the ASIAD,” Park added.

Before the event began, defender Nguyen Phong Hong Duy and midfielder Pham Xuan Manh of Song Lam Nghe An suffered injuries but they have recovered well.

“Duy has recovered his injury of thigh muscle well so Duy’s chance to go to ASIAD hasn’t closed. Maybe, he won’t compete with Palestine today but he can play in the match with Oman on Sunday. While Manh’s ankle is swollen. He can convene with his teammates but I let him train alone to avoid suffering badly,” said Park.

Meanwhile, 20 members of Palestine’s U23 side came to Hanoi on August 1 and trained in the Hanoi-based National Youth Football Training Centre on the same day.

In the friendly match to prepare for the AFC U23 Championship early this year, Vietnam drew with Palestine 1-1.

 “We are not only to determined to beat Vietnam but we also aim to gain a high result in this cup to create a driving force for the Asian event,” said Islam Masharqa, manager of Palestine.

“We have convened for more than one month so it is so wonderful when we are invited to play in a friendly event in Southeast Asia where the ASIAD will take place,” said coach Ayman Sandouqa of Palestine.

Earlier, due to a mistake of ASIAD’s organsing board, Palestinian and the United Arab Emirates teams missed out on the original draw.

Sandouqa said they met difficulties in preparation for the Asian event because of the organsing board’s error. However, they are still confident they will play well.

After the match with Palestine, Vietnam will next face Oman on August 4 and then Uzbekistan next August 7. All matches will take place at 7.30pm (Hanoi time).

The Vinaphone Cup draws four Asian teams in Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Oman and Palestine. The teams will each play each other once. The team with the most points will receive 20,000 USD in cash, while the runner-up will get 10,000 USD and third place 5,000 USD.-VNS/VNA