On March 16, the Vietnamese team continued to practice in preparation for the two matches against Indonesia in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia. Speaking to the press before the practice session, midfielder Do Hung Dung affirmed that he and his teammates are very confident and ready to enter the two upcoming important matches.
"After the first training sessions, I think the whole team is well prepared for the match against Indonesia. The players are competing in the V-League and the National Cup, so it won't take much time to reintegrate.
Hung Dung is very confident (Photo: VFF).
Only players who are new to the national team or have not been back for a long time need one or two training sessions to get into the rhythm. Of course, with the support of the coaching staff and teammates, things will gradually get better," Hung Dung said.
Assessing the opponent, Hung Dung admitted that Indonesia is stronger when calling up many naturalized players, but they also have problems that the Vietnamese team can exploit.
"In my opinion, the Indonesian team is trying to play in a strength-based style, promoting physical strength because they have many naturalized players from Europe. This style of play will make the Vietnamese team lose strength, but on the contrary, Indonesia will find it difficult to have a clear style of play when there is little time to practice together.
Of course, it will be very difficult for the Vietnamese team if Indonesia wants to promote their physical strength and home field advantage. The pressure from the Indonesian audience is very high. They often come to the stadium early, right from the warm-up," Hung Dung shared.
Despite having to play away and having a very difficult match, Hung Dung affirmed that the goal of the Vietnamese team is to win at least one point, thereby having a favorable result before the second leg and further winning a ticket to the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.
"The goal of the Vietnamese team in the first leg is still to get points before aiming for a good result at home because our long-term goal is to enter the third qualifying round.
The coaching staff will choose the most suitable players for the first leg because we cannot bring all the current players to Indonesia," Hung Dung said.
Van Toan and his teammates are ready to meet Indonesia (Photo: VFF).
Meanwhile, striker Van Toan commented: "Each match has different approaches and preparations. The Vietnamese team's opponents change many players. At this time, it is not known how the Vietnamese team will play in the next match, but the whole team will be determined to have the best result.
Scoring is always a very difficult task but I hope we will have an away goal in the upcoming match. Playing in Indonesia is a lot of pressure but sometimes that is also the motivation for the Vietnamese team to play better. Personally, I have a lot of confidence in the Vietnamese team's attack."
According to plan, Coach Troussier and his team will leave for Indonesia on the morning of March 19 and have two more training sessions in Jakarta (Indonesia) before entering the first leg match against the Indonesian team on March 21 at Bung Karno Stadium (capacity of 80,000 spectators).
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