Việt Nam, Chinese Taipei warm-up for Asian Cup

Vietnamese players in a practice session on Monday. Việt Nam will play Chinese Taipei in a friendly match on March 22 in Hà Nội. 

The match is one of the activities to prepare for the last 2019 Asian Cup qualification round next week.

It will be the second meet for the teams within 12 months. Previously Việt Nam beat Chinese Taipei 4-1 in the 2018 World Cup qualifier in Hà Nội last March 23. It was the first win for national coach Nguyễn Hữu Thắng since he took charge of the team some weeks earlier.

“I hope for a similar win. But it will not be easy because there is a big change in my team. Some veterans have retired leading to a young roster,” Thắng said at a press briefing yesterday in Hà Nội.

The 45-year-old coach said if his team was led by experienced ones they would be more confident but he believed that his young players could control the game.

“Some of my players have been competing in the K. League (South Korean football tournament), some are the key players of their clubs, while some are teenagers but present regularly in the first teams in V. League. They are strong enough to compete in all tournaments,” Thắng said.

“My team is turning into a new page. Young players bring fresh air although there will be difficulties. We will overcome challenge well.”

Talking about rivals, Thắng said Chinese Taipei also replaced almost positions of their team. They were now young but not weak. It could be a great match for the young generation.

Midfielder Lương Xuân Trường, who returned home from South Korea, also attended the briefing yesterday.

“From now on there will be no Lê Công Vinh, Phạm Thành Lương and Truơng Đình Luật. We will have to try harder to repeat what we did in last year’s match,” he said

On the visitors’ side, coach Kazuo Kuroda confirmed that the team might be at a lower level compared to Việt Nam, but that was no reason to be afraid of the hosts. Chinese Taipei wanted a win.

Japanese Kazuo used to be a high-school teacher before he worked as a football trainer for a year at the J. League 1’s Vissel Kobe FC. One of his students, Okazaki Shinji, is now playing for English Premier League champions Leicester City.

He has also helped train at least 40 players who are currently playing at the J. League.

Before taking charge of the Chinese Taipei team, Kazuo was the technical director and managed the U-18 squad.

His U-18 team also lost 1-6 to a U-19 Việt Nam squad in 2013.

In his five-month reign, Kazuo added 17 new faces to the team.

Chinese Taipei beat Guam 2-0 and lost 0-2 to North Korea.

The 68-year-old coach said he was happy with the chance to play Việt Nam. He would base Việt Nam’s good football facility and infrastructure to improve the conditions of Taipei when he was back home.

The match will be aired live from the Hàng Đẫy Stadium from 6pm on VTV6.

After that, Việt Nam will travel to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Friday, to play Afghanistan in the Asian Cup’s Group C match four days later.

Chinese Taipei will welcome Turkmenistan on Sunday.