After Vietnam's stunning performance in the AFC U23 Championship China 2018, in which the Southeast Asians finished as runners-up, forward Hoang Dinh Tung insists his club can continue the country's recent momentum.

Q: Congratulations on your performance against Eastern in the Preliminary Round 2, a hat-trick scored in less than 40 minutes! Is that the quickest treble in your career?

Thank you very much! I scored a hat-trick in a game before, against Dong Thap FC in the 2015 V.League, but that was within the full 90 minutes. I’ve never scored a hat-trick in such a short time before, that was definitely a first.

Q: What was your coach’s instructions when you were substituted on at Mong Kok Stadium? Did you expect the game to pan out like that?

As I was preparing to enter the pitch, coach Marian Mihail said to me: “You must be calm and confident.” He asked me: “Do you remember all our practice in training? Remember them and perform them on the field”.

To be honest, I expected to score, but to get three goals? Well, that’s just wonderful. I want to score as many as I can in the upcoming AFC Champions League Play-off game, too.

I’d like to give my thanks for Mr. Mihail because he believed in me although he’s only known me for a short time.

In a match between equals, Uzbekistan opened the scoring in the eighth minute but Nguyen Quang Hai’s 41st minute equaliser pushed the game into extra-time.

Vietnam, however, suffered heartbreak almost at the end as substitute Andrey Sidorov scored the winner for Uzbekistan in the final minute of extra-time to settle the outcome of a match played in wintry conditions.

Andrey Sidorov’s goal with just a minute remaining of extra-time handed Uzbekistan a 2-1 win to leave the Vietnamese heartbroken after a remarkable run to the final.

But Park put aside the disappointment of the heartbreaking loss to provide a positive outlook for the country on the international stage.

“I’ve only been in Vietnam four months and I still don’t know enough about Vietnam’s football culture,” said the 59-year-old. “I have to study and learn and try to know more. 

“But all of my players did their best and throughout this tournament they proved that they have great ability. Maybe in the future Vietnamese football will have more success at Asian level.”

Goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung’s saves helped Vietnam seal a place in the last two thanks to a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat of Qatar on Tuesday, following an extraordinary 2-2 draw at the end of extra-time.

In the wake of the victory, millions of supporters, many shouting ‘Vietnam champion’, flooded city streets across the country, with the excitement showing no sign of abating as the crunch tie against Uzbekistan approaches.

"I'm so happy! Our class told throughout the match, and we burst into tears when (Vu) Van Thanh scored (the decisive penalty). Thanks to the players, thanks to the coach! Now we'll head to celebrate," student Minh Nguyen told VnExpress International after the game.

Suwon Samsung Bluewings vs FLC Thanh Hoa

7:30pm, January 30

Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon

SUWON BLUEWINGS

After finishing a disappointing seventh in 2016, Suwon Samsung Bluewings rebounded superbly in 2017, finishing third and restoring some pride for the two-time continental champions.

While they may have lost their star man and top scorer from last season, Johnathan, who has moved to Chinese side Tianjin TEDA, they have made arguably the biggest signing in K League history by capturing FC Seoul superstar Dejan Damjanovic, the K League’s second highest goal scorer behind Lee Dong-gook.

Coached by club legend Seo Jung-won, who won back-to-back Asian Club Championships with Suwon in 2001 and 2002, they are no strangers to continental competition, playing in the AFC Champions League in seven of the last nine years. They performed well in the group stage last year, losing just one of their six matches, but in a tough group finished third behind Kawasaki Frontale and Guangzhou Evergrande.

Ceres-Negros caused one of the biggest upsets in AFC Champions League history last week with a 3-2 win over three-time A-League champions Brisbane Roar.

The Filipino champions now head to China to take on the star-studded Tianjin Quanjian and this week the-AFC.com caught up with Swedish-born midfielder Omid Nazari to talk about that historic win, the match against Tianjin Quanjian and his own personal story.

Q. How is everyone feeling after the big win last week over Brisbane?

This is the biggest thing that has ever happened in the Philippines. It’s a big thing. I don’t think we really know how big it is right now, but everyone is happy and the atmosphere is good right now and we’re just trying to keep it like this going to China.

In one of the most stunning signings in recent K-League history, Dejan Damjanovic - one of Korean football's all-time top scorers - left FC Seoul, his club of eight seasons, to join fierce rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

Ahead of Tuesday's AFC Champions League Play-off with FLC Thanh Hoa, the Montenegrin spoke to the-AFC.com about the reasons behind his controversial switch and gave his thoughts on this year's AFC Champions League.

Q: Hi Dejan, how are you and the team doing ahead of the match against FLC Thanh Hoa?

I think we are OK. We just got back from Jeju last night and we are finalising our preparations for Tuesday night. We know how important this game is and we need to be very careful because it’s our first game of the season. Nevertheless, I’m confident we'll put on a good performance.