In the August wind, a sharp rallying cry came from the Vietnam team. As China's opponent in the Qatar World Qualifying Asian Zone 12, Vietnam decided to gather early on August 5 to prepare for the upcoming fierce competition. Sources revealed that Vietnam's head coach Park Hang-su returned to Vietnam from South Korea at the end of July after dealing with personal matters. After medical isolation and observation to confirm his health, he was finally able to join the team.
In mid-June, Park Hang-su led Vietnam's historic run to the Round of 12. After the tournament, he returned to Vietnam with the team and spent 14 days in isolation in Ho Chi Minh City. Upon his return to Hanoi, he communicated with the Vietnam Football Association (VFA) about his plans to prepare for the Top 12. However, it was at this time that he suddenly received the sad news that his old husband had passed away after a long illness. Park's wife immediately rushed back to Korea to deal with the funeral as her husband had been Park's mentor. On July 28th, Park returned to Hanoi after everything was taken care of.
Returning to Hanoi with Park Hang-su were his wife, and two Korean assistants. One of them is team doctor Choi Su Ryong and the other is goalkeeper coach Kim Wook Tae. They returned to Korea before and after the Top 40 match due to family matters. During his stay in South Korea, Park Hang-su has been in contact with the Vietnam Football Association. Originally scheduled to assemble on August 22, Park made a request for an early training session for the Vietnamese team because of the uncertainty of the restart of the professional league. The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) quickly agreed to his request. It is reported that Vietnam's U23 team coached by Park Hang-soo is also planning to train early to prepare for the fifth U23 Asian Cup qualifier in late October.
Although the Vietnam Football Association (VFA) has requested the government to exempt Park Hang-su from quarantine, it has not been approved so far. As a result, Park Hang-su can only be quarantined in a designated hotel until August 11 to gather with the team. It is understood that apart from Park Hang-su, at least seven of the 31 players in the new draft will not be able to gather with the team on August 5 because of different strict anti-epidemic measures in different parts of the country.
Vietnam's National Epidemic Prevention Department has stipulated that those flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi must go to a designated hotel for a two-week quarantine upon arrival. Vietnam's striker Nguyen Chinh Linh returned home to Ho Chi Minh City during the national team's quarantine. Therefore, when he flew to Hanoi on August 5, he first needed to be quarantined at a local hotel for 14 days before he could go to the national team to sign in.
Along with Nguyen Thanh Linh, the Vietnamese team's interpreter and goalkeeper coach were also quarantined as they are also from the Ho Chi Minh City area. Striker Huu Jun, who plays for the Ho Chi Minh City team, went straight back to his home in Anh after the quarantine of the national team, and was able to sign in directly to the team on the 5th as the area is not within the priority area of Vietnam's epidemic prevention.
In response to the above, the Viet Nam Football Association (VFA) has proposed to the Government to establish a "closed area" within the Football Training Center under the VFA. On the one hand, the Vietnamese team needs such a safe "closed area" for the preparation of the 12th round of the tournament, so that the host and visiting teams and officials can move around in a fixed, epidemic-proof and safe area. If the establishment of the "closed area" is approved, the relevant personnel can enter directly to avoid negative impact on the preparation for the match. On the other hand, if team personnel were to be quarantined in designated hotels, the players would not be able to train normally, which would inevitably affect their athletic performance.
In addition to Nguyen Thinh Linh, six Vietnamese international players of the Telecom Sports Team who previously traveled to Thailand to participate in the AFC Champions League will not be able to sign up for the national team as scheduled. It is reported that after the Telecom Sports Team participated in the AFC Champions League in Thailand, the whole team members had a 14-day collective quarantine before going home. However, according to the local epidemic prevention regulations, they still need to be quarantined at home for 14 days. Therefore, according to this timetable, the earliest the six players will be August 8 to "release", the earliest will be the 9th to go to Vietnam to sign the team.
