Vietnam coach Park cautious ahead of semi-final clash with the Philippines

Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo admitted that his side will surely face a tough challenge at the Philippines in their AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 semi-final first leg on December 2, during a pre-match press briefing held in Bacolod, the Philippines, on Saturday (Dec. 1).

Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo (in yellow) shakes hands with Philippines coach Sven Goran-Eriksson during the press briefing on Dec. 1.
Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo (in yellow) shakes hands with Philippines coach Sven Goran-Eriksson during the press briefing on Dec. 1.

“Despite the lack of five key players, the Philippines still have many outstanding individuals in the lineup, but we will try our best to achieve a positive result away,” the Republic of Korea tactician said.

Park revealed that there will be little change to Vietnam’s starting lineup against the Philippines compared to the previous matches. He spoke highly of the power of coach Sven Goran-Eriksson’s team.

“The Philippines possess many players with good physique, mainly using a playing style of long balls and high balls, while effectively deploying attacks along the touch line. We will have to be wary of their diverse attacking measures,” Park stated.

Despite predicting a difficult match, the Vietnamese coach affirmed that he has already made careful preparations in terms of tactics to cope with the Philippines. He did not hide his eagerness to compete against his world-level colleague, Sven-Goran Eriksson.

On behalf of his teammates, Vietnamese keeper Bui Tien Dung asserted that the whole team are in a very good mood and are now well-prepared for the clash against the Philippines.

The 2018 AFF Cup semi-final first leg between the Philippines and Vietnam will take place at 6.30pm today (Vietnamese time) at Bacolod’s Panaad Stadium.