Caretaker coach Mai Duc Chung is confident of leading Vietnam to their first win of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Cambodia in Group C.
After guiding Vietnam women’s team to the 2017 SEA Games gold medal at the end of August, Chung will be in charge of men’s squad for former Nguyen Huu Thang, who stepped down following the Thailand defeat at Kuala Lumpur sporting event.
“I have taken this position for a few days, but I see the spirits of players are very good,” the 67-year-old said in the pre-match press conference, as quoted by Zing.vn.
“Our team have a good combination of veteran players and the ones who just competed in last month’s SEA Games.
“In that tournament, both Vietnam and Cambodia suffered from early elimination, but our players quickly forgot the failure to focus on the Asian Cup qualifiers.”
On the other hand, Chung also praised the ability of Cambodian players, especially after the Leonardo Vitorino’s shockingly won over Afghanistan in the previous game.
“I respect Cambodia since they gained a win over Afghanistan last game. I think the winning chance of both teams is 50-50,” Chung said.
Vietnam have made an unbeaten start to Group C after an opening 1-1 away draw with Afghanistan in March and another draw with Jordan three months later.