Football

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s U23 football team will meet Nepal in their second game of Group D in the Asian Games (ASIAD) 2018 in Indonesia on August 16.

The game will begin at 7pm (Hà Nội time) at the Wibawa Mukti Stadium in Cikarang.

Following the 3-0 win against Pakistan on Tuesday, Việt Nam top the group with three points, followed by Japan, Nepal and Pakistan.

According to head coach Park Hang-seo, Việt Nam will change their line-up for the upcoming game and the team has prepared carefully.

“In the recent friendly match with Indonesia, Nepal played with four defenders and competed rather actively. However, in the first match with Japan in this tournament (in which Nepal lost to Japan 0-1), Nepal sat back. In the upcoming match, I don’t know how they will play. However, we prepared carefully and are ready to take on Nepal in every situation,” said the South Korean coach.

“Nepal’s players have physical strength and durability. These are strong points of Nepal. The match with Nepal is very important. If we win, we will pass the qualifying round. I hope that they will play actively and then we will also play actively,” Park added.

He said he wasn’t worried about playing a new line up as most of the players played with each other in the AFC U23 Championship held in China in January. Meanwhile, Nguyễn Anh Đức, Đỗ Hùng Dũng and Nguyễn Văn Quyết, who are over 23 years old, are experienced players so can adapt easily.

Coach Gyotoku Kozi of Nepal announced his side aimed to play on the front foot and to take at least a point.

If Nepal draw with Việt Nam and then beat Pakistan, they will qualify for the next phase.

Japanese coach Kozi said they had only one day off before playing Việt Nam, a very important match for Nepal.

Kozi said the South Asian Football Federation Championship Final, which will be held in early September in Dhaka, was the key event of Nepal. However, if the team competed well in the ASIAD, it would be a driving force for their regional tournament. — VNS