National stadium gets a facelift for Vietnam-Japan clash

The quality of My Dinh's pitch attracted heavy criticism after Vietnam lost to Australia on September 7, with some fans calling it a "cow paddock." The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) then requested the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to improve the quality of the stadium for Vietnam's future home matches.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Department of Physical Education and Sports, VFF and My Dinh Stadium officials worked together to renovate many features including the pitch, the press conference room, monitoring room, VAR room, referee room and changing rooms.

The fire prevention system was also repaired after many years of inactivity.

This is the first time that Vietnam have reached the final round of the World Cup qualifiers. The team are at the bottom of group B after losing their first four matches against Saudi Arabia, Australia, China and Oman. Coach Park Hang-seo's players will face Japan on November 11 and Saudi Arabia on the 16th.