Coach Park sees positives despite Australia thrashing

“The team lost 0-4 today but the players have tried their best. In the first half, we used many new and inexperienced players. But it’s necessary to do that because it’s suitable for further development. We must prepare for the next generation of players,” Park said in the post-match conference.

Park fielded many new faces in the game against Australia. The team played well in the first 30 minutes, until Jamie Maclaren opened the score for the hosts and doubled the lead in the last minute of the first half with Tom Rogic’s goal.

In the second half, Park made four changes to the lineup and Vietnam’s attacking power improved significantly and several chances were created, with Pham Tuan Hai lashing a shot just wide minutes after the restart. Unfortunately, none could be converted.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t convert our chances in the first minutes of the second half,” Park said.

With Vietnam on the hunt for a goal, Australia countered and scored two more goals in the 72nd and 76th minutes to seal an emphatic victory.

“Some new players haven’t been able to adapt to the tactics. But I still saw some positive points here. Through games like this, we will try to filter and search for more new talents,” Park said.

This is the biggest defeat that Park has faced after he became Vietnam’s head coach in 2017.

Vietnam are still at the bottom of group B with zero points after seven games.

In the next game, Vietnam will play China on February 1, the first day of Lunar New Year, at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium.