It was confirmed by head coach Park Hang-seo during a press conference on October 15, ahead of his team’s departure for the Republic of Korea to prepare for the national team's most important tournament this year.
Sharing with reporters at the Hanoi event, Park said the whole team need to concentrate and play well in each game to achieve the goal.
Vietnam are in Group A with Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Malaysia, and the Korean strategist said the coaching board will refer to the videos provided by the Vietnam Football Federation to gain a thorough study of Vietnam’s opponents.
Regarding the list of 30 players, Park said the players were selected by him personally after seeing them playing live in the recently wrapped up V. League and through consultation from the coaching staff. The strength of the team is the gathering of every player who has participated in many tournaments at both international and domestic tournaments, as they all have a professional background.
However, the absence of fullback and winger Vu Van Thanh due to an injury is a pity for the team, said Park, as the 22-year-old was key to the Olympic team’s historic run to the semi-final of the Asian Games for the first time, as well as the U23 team’s progress to the final match of the Asian Football Confederation U23 Championship earlier this year.
As planned, Park will lead his squad to the ROK for a two-week training camp tomorrow. They will play three friendly matches against local rivals Incheon United (October 22), Seoul FC (October 25) and K-League 2 club Seoul E Land FC (October 29), respectively.
On October 30, the squad will return to Vietnam to complete the final preparation and Park will also make his final decision on the official list of 23 players to attend the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018.
The biggest regional tournament of the year will take place from November 8 to December 15, with the participation of 10 teams divided into two groups. The new rules will be applied in the group stage, allowing each team to play two matches both home and away. The semi-finals and the final match will take place in the same format as previous seasons, with a first and second leg.
Vietnam will play their opening match away to Laos on November 8.
