* Forward Cong Phuong: “Playing for national team is always an honour and pride”
The Republic of Korea tactician spoke highly of Indonesia’s power with the presence of many naturalised players.
“I directly watched the Indonesia-Thailand game in Jakarta last month and realised that the two naturalised players, Beto and Irfan Bachdim, combined smoothly and deployed a lot of attacks. We will be sure to keep a close eye on them. In addition, Bachdim showed good ability from free-kick scenarios. In particular, Indonesia have recently been supplemented with a centre back of Brazilian descent”.
Despite Indonesia’s poor results in their last few group matches, Park emphasised that the Golden Dragons would have to play with great caution to successfully achieve the three-point target.
“Regardless of their poor performance recently, Indonesia remain a strong team with qualified players. On the Vietnamese side, we are preparing actively for the match. Our preparations for any game are aimed towards a victory”.
The 60-year-old tactician affirmed that clinching the full three points against Indonesia is the most important goal. “The UAE and Thailand have accumulated a remarkable number of goals following their resounding wins over Indonesia. But to me, scoring many goals is not as important as securing a victory, especially when playing away”.
Touching on Tuan Anh’s injury situation, Park said that the midfielder is recovering well. However, in order to ensure safety for Tuan Anh, Park and assistants have decided not to use Tuan Anh in tomorrow’s game against Indonesia.
“Tuan Anh is not named in the 23-player squad for the Indonesia match. His injury is not serious, but I don’t want to risk it. Tuan Anh is a good player, but the remaining midfielders of Vietnam are qualified as well. We have Huy Hung, Duc Huy and even Quang Hai who can play in the midfield”.
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Vietnam forward Nguyen Van Toan speaks at the press conference. (Photo: VFF)
Joining head coach Park at the press conference, forward Nguyen Van Toan said: “To tell the truth, I did not play really well in the clash against Malaysia. I hope to be given the chance to play tomorrow and show my best form. I see nothing to worry about and I am very excited at the moment”.
Vietnam head coach Park Hang-seo (R) shakes hands with Indonesia coach Simon McMenemy at the press conference. (Photo: VFF)
For his part, Indonesia coach Simon McMenemy admitted that his side have nothing to lose after three defeats, but he hailed the current situation as a motivation for Indonesia to seek a positive result against Vietnam.
“My players have been psychologically impacted after three successive losses. The long flight from the UAE has also made us tired. We have been pushed to the wall, and it might be good motivation for us to search for a home win tomorrow”.
The Indonesia-Vietnam clash is scheduled to take place at Bali’s Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium 6.30pm on October 15 (Vietnamese time).