Vietnam draw Jordan in secret friendly

To avoid leaking tactics, no press or spectators were allowed in the Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium, UAE. The lineup was also kept secret. The game took place at 9 p.m. Monday local time (midnight on Tuesday Hanoi time).

In the 11th minute, Jordan opened the scoreboard. Conceding early, Vietnam quickly switched to offense to find the equalizer.

In the 25th minute, Vietnam equalized as a Jordan player scored an own goal. The second half saw Park subbing out the whole team and put in a new one to test different tactics and players, as the number of substitution allowed in this game is unlimited. Jordan got a penalty after that, but keeper Nguyen Van Toan saved it. The score remained 1-1 until the end.

This friendly is considered the final warm-up game for Vietnam. They will play their World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia on June 7, Malaysia on the 11th and UAE the 15th. All of them also have played some friendlies to prepare for the important upcoming games.

Vietnam are topping group G with 11 points. The Golden Dragons need seven points out of three games to secure a place in the final round.

Unfortunately, Vietnam will play the matches without their number one keeper Dang Van Lam who had contact with a Covid-19 case during training at his club in Japan, Cerezo Osaka. To guarantee safety for the team, Park decided to exclude Lam from the official squad list.