Vietnam will be on guard against UAE, says coach

Park said at a press briefing in Hanoi Wednesday that his UAE counterpart, Dutchman Bert van Marwijk, is a famous name in football, helping his home country team finish the 2010 World Cup as the runners-up.

"Bert's philosophy has always been focusing on defending, ensuring safety for the goal first before attacking. He is a coach who knows how to analyze the rivals first to find their weak points for attacking."

"I think there will be moments the UAE team will play their best against Vietnam. They will not attack repeatedly but will choose the right time to pounce on Vietnam and then focus on winning at all costs," the South Korean coach said.

Vietnam will meet UAE in Hanoi at 8 p.m. on Thursday for second round of their 2022 World Cup qualifier of Group G.

Park said his team has analyzed the UAE game and prepared solutions to cope with the situation when UAE turns from defending to full-scale attacking.

Bert van Marwijk of UAE speaks at a press conference in Hanoi, November 13, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa.

For his part, Marwijk told the media that he thinks "Vietnam is the strongest rival of UAE in Group G" and that his team has prepared as carefully as it could for the upcoming game.

"I've been following matches of the Vietnamese team and am impressed by their diversified strategies," he said.

Commenting on that, Park said he appreciated the compliment and stressed that the Vietnamese team will not let its guard down.

He said that Marwijk was a good strategist and because UAE, considered the strongest in the group in the first place, has lost one game to Thailand, they will be more careful and determined to win against Vietnam.

Vietnam started the qualifiers in September with a goalless draw against Thailand, before edging Malaysia 1-0 at home at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi. It went on to beat Indonesia 3-1 in Bali.

For now, Thailand and Vietnam top the group with seven points each, but Vietnam is positioned below Thailand on goal difference. The Southeast Asians are followed by UAE with six points. Malaysia have three points while Indonesia, losing all matches so far, is at the bottom.