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Coach Park Hang-seo has hailed the quality of the UAE squad but promised that Vietnam had prepared well for the clash.
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UAE are not the team with the greatest firepower because we have played Iran and Iraq before.
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In the pre-match interview on Monday, he said: “We won 1-0 against the UAE in the first leg, but now the situation is different. Their tactics and skills have gone up a level. It’s going to be a tough game. I don’t want the players to think that they only need a draw.
“UAE have three strong attackers, plus home advantage. We will have to work our way through this match.”
It is going to be the classic irresistible force vs immovable object scenario on Tuesday night: Vietnam have conceded the fewest goals in the group and UAE have scored the most.
Park said, “UAE are not the team with the greatest firepower because we have played Iran and Iraq before.
“But we don’t have the most solid defense. We have drawn up various strategies for this game.”
He will not coach Vietnam for this game due to a suspension.
“My assistant will improvise based on the situation on the field. He is capable of doing my job in this game.”
According to Vnexpress, Assistant coach Lee Young-jin, Park’s right hand man since 2017, will lead Vietnam. The game, to be played at Zebeel Stadium, Dubai, will kick off at 11:45 p.m. Hanoi time and will be reported live on VnExpress International.
On 29 September 2017, Park was appointed the head coach of the Vietnam national football team. Also in charge of the under-23 side, the team reached the final of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, which is Vietnam’s first final in the official AFC competitions.
At the 2018 Asian Games, his side also advanced to the semi-finals and finished fourth for the first time in 56 years, with Park earning praise for his management.
On 15 December 2018, the Vietnamese team under Park won the AFF Championship after defeating Malaysia, 3–2 on aggregate, in the second leg of the finals in Mỹ Đình National Stadium of Hanoi. This was Vietnam’s first regional championship in ten years.
In the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Vietnam reached the quarter-finals but lost to eventual runner-up Japan, 1–0.[21] On 6 November 2019, Park had extended his contract to coach the Vietnam and the under-23 team until 2022.
With the Olympic side, Park won the gold medal at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, thus winning the first football title for Vietnam as a united country at the games as Vietnam previously lost in the final on five occasions.