Vietnamese players practise in the UAE. They will play Jordan on January 20. (Photo courtesy of VFF) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Vietnam’s coach Park Hang-seo said his team can still progress in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 as they prepare to face Jordan.
They claimed the place in the knock-out stages after other results went their way on January 17, and because of a good disciplinary record.
Both Vietnam and Lebanon finished the group stages with equal points and a similar goal difference. However, it was because Vietnam had received five yellow cards while Lebanon accumulated seven they went through.
Park appreciated Jordan was a tough match, but said Vietnam could hope for a positive result. The two sides met twice in the qualification with both matches finished draws.
In their first meet in June 2017, the game ended 0-0 in Ho Chi Minh City. Nine months later they drew 1-1 in Amman.
Park asked his players to focus 100 percent for the match by watching Jordan’s videos and training hard.
They moved to Dubai on January 18 in preparation for the game in which they will have their key midfielder Do Duy Mạnh back in action after he was sidelined for the last match.
Coming to the tournament, Jordan were not expected to have an easy journey as they would face defending champions Australia and powerhouse Syria in Group B. However they made a big statement beating Australia 1-0 and went on to defeat Syria 2-0 before drawing with Palestine 0-0. They were the first team through the second stage.
Speaking with reporters midfielder Baba Abdel Rahman of Jordan said his team were not afraid of anyone, added they had only one target and that’s to win.
Vietnam suffered two defeats in a row, losing 2-3 to Iraq and 0-2 to Iran. They came back to win 2-0 over Yemen.
"Vietnam deserve to earn a berth in the knock-out round and we should be proud that we made it. Our road was not easy but it let us know that we have to work harder," said football expert Trinh Minh Hue.
"I believe that our players are in good shape. They might not be better than Jordan but it is the knock-out stage, so anything can happen. If we are lucky we can win," he said.
The match between Vietnam and Jordan will begin at 18:00 at the Al Maktoum Stadium on January 20 and will be live on VTV6 and Fox Sports channels.-VNS/VNA
VNA
