Việt Nam coach Park Hang-seo said his team can still progress in the Asian Cup as they prepare to face Jordan.

Vietnamese players practise in the UAE. They will play Jordan on Sunday. — Photo courtesy of VFF

They claimed the place in the knock-out stages after other results went their way on Thursday, and because of a good disciplinary record.

Both Việt Nam and Lebanon finished the group stages with equal points and a similar goal difference. However, it was because Việt Nam had received five yellow cards while Lebanon accumulated six they went through.

Park appreciated Jordan was a tough match, but said Việt Nam could hope for a positive result. The two sides met twice in the qualification with both matches finished draws.

In their first meet in June 2017, the game ended 0-0 in HCM City. Nine months later they drew 1-1 in Amman.

Park asked his players to focus 100 per cent for the match by watching Jordan’s videos and training hard.

They moved to Dubai yesterday in preparation for the game in which they will have their key midfieder Đỗ Duy Mạnh back in action after he was sidelined for the last match.

Coming to the Cup Jordan were not expected to have an easy journey as they would face defending champions Australia and powerhouse Syria in Group B. However they made a big statement beating Australia 1-0 and went on to defeat Syria 2-0 before drawing with Palestine 0-0. They were the first team through the second stage.

Speaking with reporters midfielder Baba Abdel Rahman of Jordan said his team were not afraid of anyone, added they had only one target and that’s to win.

Việt Nam suffered two defeats in a row, losing 2-3 to Iraq and 0-2 to Iran. They came back to win 2-0 over Yemen.

"Việt Nam deserve to earn a berth in the knock-out round and we should be proud that we made it. Our road was not easy but it let us know that we have to work harder," said football expert Trịnh Minh Huế.

"I believe that our players are in good shape. They might not be better than Jordan but it is the knock-out stage, so anything can happen. If we are lucky we can win," he said.

The match between Việt Nam and Jordan will begin at 6pm at the Al Maktoum Stadium this Sunday and will be live on VTV6 and Fox Sports channels. — VNS