At the 2023 Asian Cup, for the first time, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) applied semi-automatic offside technology, which was used at the 2022 World Cup. In addition, the Organizing Committee also created conditions for the teams by increasing the number of registered players from 23 to 26 players.

The Vietnam team has 26 players, instead of 23 players as before. (Photo: Tien Tuan)

This will help coaches have more options in terms of personnel, especially when the tournament takes place at a dense schedule. For the Vietnamese team, Coach Troussier has more options to deal with strong opponents such as Iraq, Japan and Indonesia in Group D of the Asian Cup.

In the upcoming training session, the Vietnamese team can call up about 30-35 players. The Asian Cup Organizing Committee's increase in number will help many Vietnamese players have the opportunity to wear the national team jersey to compete in continental tournaments.

According to the schedule, Coach Troussier's team will gather from December 31. Then, on January 9, 2024, the team will play a friendly match with opponent Kyrgyzstan.

At the 2023 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team is in Group D with Japan, Iraq and Indonesia. In the upcoming tournament, Coach Troussier's team will face Japan (6:30 p.m. on January 14, 2024), Indonesia (9:30 p.m. on January 19), and Iraq (6:30 p.m. on January 24).