Vietnamese football sets ambitious goals in 2020
Advancing to the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and successfully defending the Asian Football Federation (AFF) Cup are the two major goals of the Vietnamese football in 2020.
Vietnamese midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai (in red) vies for the ball in a match of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Advancing to the 2022 World
Cup qualifiers and successfully defending the Asian Football Federation (AFF)
Cup are the two major goals of the Vietnamese football in 2020.
According to
deputy chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Tran Quoc Tuan, Vietnam will be
sending a strong squad to compete at the AFF Cup 2020 scheduled to take
place from October to December this year.
“We are the
defending champions, so our image and reputation need to be maintained,” Tuan
said.
He went on
that the fans love this tournament, and with the V.League 1 and V.League
2 schedule changes, it will allow Vietnam to send its best
players.
Changing the
schedules and format for the V.League 1 and V.League 2 after the
COVID-19 pandemic is a calculated decision to help the national
team prepare for successfully defending the AFF Cup and reaching the third
qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.
Both must be
considered equally important, Tuan said, adding that head coach Park Hang-seo
and his team will be busy selecting their best squad for the tournament.
Currently, Vietnam are top
of Group G in World Cup qualification with 11 points after five matches.
The team will visit Malaysia in October and a win over the team in second will help coach Park‘s contingent reach the final stage of the Asian qualifiers.
The following matches will be against Indonesia at My Dinh National Stadium
in Hanoi and the United
Arab Emirates away, both in November./.