Vietnam a stronger team now: Oman head coach

“I have watched many games of Vietnam recently and I can say that they have been stronger since the last encounter with us. The 3-1 win against China in February was an impressive display from Vietnam. In the match with Australia, I think Vietnam didn’t play terrible although they lost 0-4. Australia are very strong with many players in Europe, but in that game, Vietnam still played with confidence and showed their ability at some moments,” Ivankovic said in the press conference on Wednesday.

Vietnam had played Oman away in October last year and lost 1-3.

After complimenting Vietnam, Ivankovic set the goal to win this match in My Dinh National Stadium tomorrow.

“I think both teams are under pressure and we will try our best. We think that playing Vietnam is like playing Japan, Australia or Saudi Arabia. Oman are confident and want to defeat Vietnam,” Ivankovic added.

“I don’t have a specific tactic for tomorrow’s game. I’ll let Oman play freely and let them improvise to see how it goes. We will try to attack and score but at the same time have to stay on guard,” he continued.

Oman are having eight points after eight games of group B. They have no chance left to qualify for the World Cup, as they are still seven points short for the third position while there are only two more games left. Their goal now is to maintain the fourth position until the end of the qualifiers.

“Oman don’t have the pressure of qualification anymore. Thanks to that, we can try something new and give the chance for young players. Of course, the team will still play for the color of our flag and create a confident atmosphere for the next games, the next tournaments as well as improving our place on FIFA ranking,” he said.

To prepare for the game with Vietnam, the Oman national team have set foot in Hanoi on Monday and had their first training session on Tuesday.

The match will be reported live on VnExpress International at 7 p.m. (Hanoi time), Thursday.