In the opening match, Vietnam lost 2-4 to Japan, while Indonesia lost 1-3 to Iraq. The two teams are temporarily sharing the bottom two positions of the table without any points.

Vietnam vs Indonesia match takes place at 9:30 p.m. on January 19 (Photo: FPT Play)

Regarding the importance of the match taking place at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Coach Troussier said: “This match will be difficult for both teams. In the recent match against Japan, Vietnam played to assert themselves, but in this match, we and Indonesia play to assert our position. This is no different from the final match at the AFF Cup or SEA Games because the winning team will have a big advantage to continue.”

In the past, Coach Troussier and U23 Vietnam faced U23 Indonesia in the semi-finals of the men's football event of the 32nd SEA Games. The goal conceded in the last minutes of extra time caused U23 Vietnam to lose 2-3 in that match and missed the chance to play in the final.

Photo: Duong Thuat

At the national team level, recent confrontations with the Indonesian team are showing outstanding achievements for the Vietnamese team. In the last 10 times facing this opponent, the Vietnamese team won 5, drew 4 and only lost 1. In the last 2 times they met, in the 2 semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2022, the two teams drew 0-0 in the first leg, the Vietnamese team won 2-0 in the second leg at home.

Coach Troussier aims for victory, and coach Shin Tae Yong also wants the Indonesian team to do the same. “We lost the opening match, so the match with Vietnam is very important. We have to beat Vietnam,” said the Korean strategist.

Indonesia needs to score points against Vietnam to keep their chances of advancing to the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup. Not only that, the team from the archipelago also needs a good result to regain the trust of their home fans. In the last 6 appearances, Indonesia has not won, drawn 1 and lost 5. Therefore, the pressure on coach Shin Tae Yong is getting bigger and bigger.

The Indonesian national team is currently on a four-match losing streak (Photo: PSSI)

In tonight's match, the Indonesian team received good news about their squad when Shayne Pattynama returned after a period of absence due to personal reasons. On the other hand, the Vietnamese team is at risk of missing Dinh Bac due to muscle pain.

The match between Vietnam and Indonesia will be reported online by VOV Online Newspaper. We invite interested readers to follow.

Hoang Son/VOV.VN