Before the opening match of ASEAN Cup 2026 against Timor-Leste at 8:30 PM tomorrow (July 24), midfielder Hoang Duc said that the whole team is in an excited spirit and ready to aim for the goal of winning all 3 points.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, the midfielder born in 1998 assessed that the first match always contains many challenges, but the Vietnamese team has prepared carefully.
He shared: "Tomorrow's match is the first match of the tournament, so there will definitely be certain difficulties. However, the whole team has prepared carefully. Up to this point, we are all very excited to wait for the opening match and will dedicate ourselves to having a really good match, aiming for victory.
For himself, Hoang Duc is determined to leave his mark in the opening match. The midfielder of Ninh Binh club said: "For me personally, this is an important match. I will try to create many dangerous situations, score goals to dedicate to the fans and contribute a really good performance.
Assessing the preparation process before the ASEAN Cup 2026, Hoang Duc said that the nearly month-long training trip in Korea helped the team improve their physical foundation as well as perfect their playing style.
He said: "In the past month, before the tournament, the whole team had a training trip in Korea with very high intensity in hot weather conditions. The coach has given many different exercises".
According to Hoang Duc, the Vietnamese team has many new faces and some naturalized players, creating positive competition in the squad. The coaching staff also developed many training plans to help players quickly integrate and complete attacking plans.
He shared: "In particular, in this year's tournament, there are many players participating for the first time, along with some naturalized players, so the competition is very high. The coach always builds exercises to help the brothers quickly integrate, unite into a unified team and deploy more meticulous attacking plans than in the previous two years".
Closing the sharing, Hoang Duc expressed his expectation that the team will play successfully and meet the expectations of the fans.
He said: "I hope the whole team will have a really good tournament, dedicating good matches to the fans and successfully defending the championship.
