Midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang (in red) at a training session (Photo: VNA)With two draws andfour victories, including a 4-0 rout of eliminated Indonesia on June 7, ParkHang-seo's Golden Star Warriors are sitting top of a tricky Group G, it said.
The article continuedthat a victory against Malaysia on June 11 is likely to seal Vietnam’s maidenprogression into the next round - at least as one of the best runners-up -ahead of the closing game against the hosts United Arab Emirates four dayslater.
In an interview withFIFA.com, Hoang said that Vietnam have never reached the decisive World Cupqualifying round before.
"However, we arenow seeing the chance of progressing to the next stage for the first time inhistory. Playing in the World Cup is the national dream for us Vietnamese. Sowe play with the country's dream to realise,” he added.
Before arriving to theUAE, coach Park had stated the ambitions of grabbing at least six points fromthe three remaining matches, he went on.
“We always set theultimate goals for each match. My team-mates and I will do whatever we can todo our country and supporters proud," Hoang affirmed.
He missed theIndonesia game due to suspension,
In coach Park's line-up- nearly half of which are under 23-years-old – the midfielder is a cornerstonefigure. With 70 international appearances, he is the current team's mostexperienced player, FIFA underlined.
Notably, he was ontarget in a 2-1 defeat of Qatar on the road to the 2014 World Cup. In thecurrent qualifying campaign, Hoang started in all of the opening five fixtures,including Vietnam’s spirited 1-0 defeat of the UAE.
Vietnam have maderemarkable progress since coach Park from the Republic of Korea took over in2017. Under the manager, they reached the last eight at the 2019 AFC Asian Cuponly to be edged out by eventual champions Japan 1-0.
“Even more exciting isthe fact that a host of youth talents have been nurtured and form the backboneof the current national team,” it said./.
VNA
