Meet the new U23 Vietnam head coach

"You already got used to the tactics of coach Park Hang-seo, but at the moment, I'm using mine. I hope you will get used to my tactics. Of course, there were some players who have trained with me in Hanoi before so they would know better. In short, I want you to give your best. Despite what result may come, it's my responsibility and I want everyone to try their best for Vietnam," Gong told the players on Tuesday.

Gong, 48, has worked for many years as an assistant coach of the South Korea U17, U18, U20 and U23 teams. In 2020, he worked as assistant to coach Shin Tae-yong and the Indonesia national team, also coaching the U20 squad. During his career as a player, he appeared as a forward for Daejeon Citizen FC, Gyeongnam FC and Sunshine Coast FC.

In March, through the introduction of Park, Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) recruited him as the new head coach of U23 Vietnam. Gong worked as an assistant for Lee Young-jin during the friendly Dubai Cup in April to get familiar with the job before officially taking over the team. U23 Asian Cup 2022 from June 1 to 19 will be Gong's first tournament as head coach of Vietnam.

"In 2018, I was a member of the coaching board for South Korea in the AFC U23 Championship. At that tournament, Vietnam played South Korea in the group stage. This time I'm coaching Vietnam in U23 Asian Cup. I hope I can bring glory to Vietnam during my spell here," Gong added.

The squad of Vietnam in U23 Asian Cup will be a combination of players that won the AFF U23 Youth Championship earlier this year and those who won SEA Games 31 gold on May 22.

On Tuesday, Gong and 25 members of the team gathered at the VFF headquarters in Hanoi before going to the UAE on a training trip.

According to schedule, Vietnam will play the U23 team of UAE on May 28. A day later, they will fly to Uzbekistan for the U23 Asian Cup.

In the group stage, Vietnam will face Thailand on June 2, South Korea on June 5, and Malaysia three days later.

The U23 team are on an unbeaten and clean sheet streak. They played 12 games, won 11, drew one and scored 19 goals.