This year’s games from November 30 to December 10 will feature a record 56 sports with more than 500 events. The Philippines is predicted to top the medal tally with 200 golds followed by Thailand.

Vuong Bich Thang, Director of Vietnam’s General Department of Sports and Physical Training, said Vietnam might win 70 gold medals.

“The upcoming SEA Games will be difficult for Vietnam which will compete in just 30 of the 56 sports. Many of the sports are new to Vietnamese athletes, and many sports in which Vietnam is strong have been excluded. We still hope to finish third in the Games. If we fail, we’ll still try to do well at least in the Olympic sports,” said Thang.

Tran Quoc Tuan, Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation, said: “The men’s football matches will be on artificial turf, creating difficulties for many participating teams. Our team will need more time to get used to the new field.”

This year each squad can have a maximum of 20 players of which only two can be over 22.