Vietnamese national team on training (Photo: bongdaplus.vn)

"We have four purposes in this gathering. It is the first gathering from last year until now. The team planed to join several times but they were all cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said coach Park Hang-seo.

“I want my players to redirect their roles and positions in the national team. In clubs, players have their own duties, but in the national team, players must redefine that.”

“After a year of hard competition, the players were all very tired. Although no one has been injured so badly that he can’t play, but they still have some minor problems. Through this training camp, I want to follow up and know their problems to have suitable treatment,” said Park.

The Republic of Korean coach has selected 37 players for this training camp, 12 of whom for the first time under Park.

“I want these players to have time to integrate with tactics of the national team. Each position on the field has a new player. I want them to create sound competition among players in the team,” said Park.

The national team will convene until December 28. During this time, they will have two friendly matches with the U22 team on December 23 and December 27.

Vietnam lead Group G at the 2022 FIFA World Cup’s second qualifying round with 11 points after five matches. They will play Malaysia away on March 30, Indonesia at home on June 7, and the UAE away on June 15.

In other news, the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) on Monday announced that the AFF Cup has been rescheduled yet again, with the new date from December 5, 2021, to January 1, 2022. Earlier, the AFF Cup was to be held in April and May next year.