Vietnam national football team will play fair with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in a friendly match to be held at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCM City on October 6, according to head coach Nguyen Huu Thang.

The match is a warm-up for Vietnam to prepare for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016 in November.

In the FIFA rankings, Vietnam rank 141st while the DPRK are 118th place.

To prepare for the match, Thang called 30 players—including three players who are competing for foreign clubs, namely midfielder Luong Xuan Truong and Nguyen Tuan Anh, striker Nguyen Cong Phuong.

“The DPRK has played in the World Cup. They are better than our team in terms of skills and physical strength, so the match is very useful for us,” said Thang.

“The match’s result is important but for me, players’ performance is more important. The team need to fair play with the DPRK to serve fans nationwide,” said Thang.

“Vietnam have had the best lineup ever since the AFF Cup in 2008 for the coming match. With many young players, coach Thang will have many choices and changes of way of playing,” said captain Le Cong Vinh.

“The DPRK have many good players, and they are a strong team. I know that because I have faced many of their young players . However, the match’s result is not the most important thing. Through the match, we will learn lessons for the future and the coming AFF Cup,” said Vinh.

The DPRK registered 22 players for the match, including Pak Kwang-ryong who plays as a striker for Lausanne in the Swiss Super League. Earlier, he joined Basel FC and became the first DPRK to play in the 2011-12 UEFA CHampions League campaign coming on the field in the 92nd minute.