Coach Park unveils final squad for World Cup qualifiers against Malaysia

Defenders Pham Xuan Manh and Tran Van Kien are dropped from Vietnam’s squad as head coach Park Hang-seo decided to name the final 23-member list for their Thursday’s World Cup qualifiers against Malaysia.

Head coach Park Hang-seo has announced the final 23-member squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifying match against Malaysia on October 10. (Photo: Vietnam Football Federation)
Head coach Park Hang-seo has announced the final 23-member squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifying match against Malaysia on October 10. (Photo: Vietnam Football Federation)

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At a technical meeting on Wednesday morning (Oct. 9), Park registered the official list of 23 Vietnamese players for the upcoming match at Hanoi’s My Dinh National Stadium on Thursday evening.

In preparation for this important match, the Korean football manager initially summoned 31 players to train with the U22 team. After that, Park reduced the list to 25 players, eliminating those who suffered unfortunate injuries and gave opportunities to two new faces, namely strikers Tien Linh and Trong Hung from the U22 team.

This 25-member squad are all part of Park’s plans for two matches in Group G in the second round of the 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers this October, including tomorrow’s match against Malaysia at My Dinh and the away game against hosts Indonesia in Bali five days later.

The tournament rules stipulate that each team can register a maximum of 23 players for each match, so after careful consideration, Park and his coaching staff made the decision to leave out defensive duo Xuan Manh and Van Kien for the home game against Malaysia.

Van Kien and Xuan Manh both play as left-backs but in this position, Park has three quality players – Nguyen Trong Hoang, Vu Van Thanh and Doan Van Hau. In Park’s favourite 3-4-3 formation, Van Kien and Xuan Manh have little chances, so the 60-year-old tactician has decided to increase the strength for the attacking line and is retaining two strikers Tien Linh and Trong Hung.

Despite missing the home match against Malaysia, Van Kien and Xuan Manh still continue training with the team with the chance to be named in the final list for the trip to Indonesia on October 15. In case of any injuries, they will be Park's replacement choices.

The 23-man list in the match against Malaysia is still full of names who are playing abroad, including striker Nguyen Cong Phuong (Sint-Truidense), defender Doan Van Hau (SC Heerenveen) and goalie Dang Van Lam (Muangthong United).

The match between hosts Vietnam and Malaysia will take place at 20:00 tomorrow evening at My Dinh National Stadium. Vietnam will play in their traditional red outfit. After that, the whole team will continue to prepare to play guests to Indonesia in Bali on October 15.

In the second round of the 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers, Vietnam are in Group G with Southeast Asian sides Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, along with sole non-ASEAN team UAE. After the first two matchdays, Vietnam are ranked 4th with a point after a goalless stalemate with Thailand in their opener, while Malaysia accumulated three points after two matches and are ranked right above Vietnam.