The team had their only training session in the newly revamped My Dinh Stadium Tuesday night, with the ideal weather.
All players are in good form, including midfielder Tran Minh Vuong (front), who has fully recovered from injury.
The players trained with a comfortable mentality. Captain Que Ngoc Hai (2nd from right) said despite not having any point after four games, the team have shown great fighting spirit and will try to make something out of the game with Japan.
Coach Park Hang-seo is under pressure after Vietnam lost their first four matches against Saudi Arabia, Australia, China and Oman.
The goalkeeper position has Park worried. While main keeper Dang Van Lam is out for four months due to a serious injury, keeper Nguyen Van Toan also has a shoulder problem. On Monday, Park had to call up a keeper from the U23 team.
Bui Tan Truong was the number one choice when Vietnam played the last three games of the second World Cup qualifying round in June, when Lam couldn't join the team due to Covid-19.
Nguyen Tien Linh (right) is Vietnam’s number one striker. In the second round, he scored five goals and netted two more in the final round so far.
Nguyen Quang Hai (right) is the key midfielder for Vietnam. He is the first Vietnamese player to score in the final round of World Cup qualifiers with a beauty against Saudi Arabia.
