International Friendly Tournaments

Press conference before the friendly match between Vietnam Team and Borussia Dortmund Club

At 19:00 on November 30, at My Dinh National Stadium, a friendly match between Vietnam team and Borussia Dortmund will take place. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Coach Park Hang Seo and coach Edin Terzic both highly appreciated the competition between the two teams, and hoped to dedicate a beautiful match to a large number of fans.

Coach Park Hang Seo said: “With what have shown, Borussia Dortmund is a bit too much for us. But that’s due to schedule, not capacity. Borussia Dortmund is having such an Asian tour, and the Vietnamese team has just had enough players. We’re going to have a great game together.”

Assessing the strength of Borussia Dortmund, but Coach Park Hang Seo also believes in his team. He said: “Vietnam is a national team, not a club like the team which Borussia Dortmund played in Singapore and Malaysia. Why do we think we will lose? Don’t talk about losing before the game. Maybe we can win?!”.

The Korean coach added: “It is a fact that although the Vietnamese team gathered from November 23, because the National Cup ended on November 27, I only had 30/31 for 2 days. The players have just finished. They also need to adjust to get in good shape for the next period. I also got the list for the game on the night of Nov 30. This time, Vietnam Team has many senior players. They understand my philosophy already. At the same time, the team also has many new factors. I also want to test how they can perform. New players can play well at the club, but the national team has to be seen. In addition, Dortmund also has many quality players. That is the challenge of quality.”

On behalf of teammates attending the press conference, captain Do Hung Dung said that facing Borussia Dortmund is a very special opportunity. “For every Vietnamese player, when welcome big teams in the world, we are excited and happy. Normally people only get to see them on TV. This is the first time I have had the opportunity to participate in such a match.”

Do Hung Dung added that although Borussia Dortmund lacks a few key players due to the World Cup, they have many very good young players who have played in the top tournament in Germany. “We have to play seriously, we don’t care about which Dortmund star we have to play. The team will try to have a beautiful match to dedicate to the spectator,” Do Hung Dung emphasized.

On the other hand, Dortmund coach Edin Terzić paid special respect to the Vietnamese team. He said: “As far as I know, the coach of Vietnam used to coach the U23 team. You have developed young teams in parallel with the team A. I’ve watched your games before, the players are confident and get good results. I believe the match against Dortmund will be a good test for you before the AFF Cup 2022.”

According to the prediction of coach Edin Terzić, tomorrow’s match against Vietnam will be tough for Dortmund players. “In football the unexpected can always happen. We know that Germany also lost to Japan at the World Cup, Edin Terzić said.

Meanwhile, midfielder Matt Hummels shared his first impression when coming to Vietnam: “I like Vietnamese coffee even though it’s sweeter than other types I’ve tried. I like Vietnamese pho, want to spend time to experience new things in Vietnam even though I don’t have much time here. I like your country.”

The German midfielder was also touched by the love of the fans, when Vietnamese fans welcomed the Dortmund team at 2am this morning at the airport. Hummels and his teammates were also asked for signing and photos by fans while visiting Hanoi.

Matt Hummels is known as one of the most experienced players in the Dortmund team to play in Vietnam. The 1988 midfielder played 212 matches for Dortmund between 2009 and 2016, before moving to Bayern Munich to play for three seasons. Hummels then returned to Dortmund in 2019 and has been with the Signal Iduna Park home team until now.