Vietnam will play well at Asian Cup: star footballer

At the 2023 Asian Cup, Vietnam are in group D with Japan, Iraq and Indonesia. Toan expects the challenge ahead but is confident that Vietnam can overcome it.

“I believe Vietnam will get a good result,” Toan told South Korean football magazine Best Eleven. “We already had experience at the Asian Cup.”

At the 2019 Asian Cup in UAE, Vietnam made it past a tough group that included Iran, Iraq and Yemen, then defeated Jordan in the round of 16 before losing 0-1 to Japan in the quarterfinals. At that game, Japan only could beat Vietnam thanks to a penalty that was given via VAR technology.

The 2023 Asian Cup will be the first major tournament of Vietnam national football team with the new head coach Philippe Troussier. Although there were some doubts, Toan said he believes in the new changes of the team.

After the 2022 season, Toan left Vietnam to join Seoul E-Land in K-League 2. Since then, he has played seven games and got one assist. He could have played more if not for the an ankle injury during a training session on March 30.

The Vietnam national football team will gather for training in mid-June and Toan is expected to be called up.

The 2023 Asian Cup was originally scheduled to be held in China from June 16 to July 16 this year. However, the host was later changed to Qatar and the tournament will take place from January 12 to February 10, 2024.