Vietnam U23s return to HCM City for final preparation stage before AFC U23 Championship

Coach Park Hang-seo’s side are now in their final preparation stage for the upcoming 2020 AFC U23 Championship, scheduled to take place in Thailand from January 8 to 26.

According to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), the reason the team chose HCM City as a training venue for their final preparation stage before the continental competition is because the weather conditions there are quite similar to those in the tournament’s host country - Thailand.

The previous training session in the ROK offered a good chance to help the players recover from their tight fixtures in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines early this month.

In addition, the coaching staff also had the chance to evaluate the performance of the whole team through two friendlies in the ROK, with the Yeungnam University’s student team (draw 0-0) and Busan Transportation Corporation FC (win 3-2).

Due to coinciding with the Christmas holiday, coach Park and his Korean colleagues stayed in their home country for two additional days to celebrate the New Year with their families. They will join their players in HCM City on December 24.

Vietnam U23s are given a three-day break to relax after their constant play and practice at both SEA Games and the ROK’s training camp.

After coach Park returning to HCM City tomorrow afternoon, his squad will be back to training from December 25. Vietnam U23s will have a one-week training session here before leaving for Thailand on January 1, 2020.

According to the VFF, the team will have a friendly in HCM City during their next training camp and their opponents have been identified as Becamex Binh Duong.

This match is scheduled to take place at the Thong Nhat Stadium this Saturday afternoon. It is the only friendly of Vietnam U23s during the gathering in HCM City.

After the friendly with the V.League 1 side, Vietnam U23s will leave for Thailand to attend the 2020 AFC U23 Championship. Currently, Park has 28 players and the coaching staff will probably shorten the list before departing for Thailand.

As scheduled, once in Thailand, Park’s side will have a final rehearsal with another friendly against Bahrain U23s on January 3. On January 10, the reigning runners-up will officially play their opener in Group D against UAE U23s, before facing Jordan U23s on January 13 and wrapping up the group stage with a match against DPR Korea U23s on January 16.