Futsal

Sahako FC players seen in a training session. Sahako will compete in the AFF Futsal Club Championship during September 4-10 in Thailand. Photo of Sahako FC

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese representative Sahako FC will compete in the AFF Futsal Club Championship during September 4-10 in Thailand.

Coach Nguyễn Tuấn Anh and his men arrived in Nakhon Ratchasima on August 29 and are ready for their first regional tournament.

Seven teams are divided into two groups. Sahako FC, currently raked at the top of the Việt Nam National Futsal Championship, are in Group B with Selangor FC (Malaysia) and Ramelau (Timor Leste), both of whom are defending champion clubs in their countries' leagues.

Group A gathers Thai Futsal League's first runner-up Hongyen Thakam, Cambodian winners Dow Town Sport, Indonesian champions Bintang Timur Surabaya and Perwira, the winning club of Brunei.

Teams will compete in a round robin format in the group stage with the two best ones advancing to the semi-finals.

"We target a slot in the last-four round," said coach Anh.

"When we reach our goal, we will have a plan for the next step depending on who will be our rival in the semis. The difference between them mainly are foreign players in the Indonesian and Thai clubs," he said.

Anh said although his men were new at the competition, they were expected to make a surprise.

"With the current players who have trained a lot for the tournament, Sahako is not afraid of anyone. We believe in positive results, although some of my players are busy with the national team, but the substitutes can shoulder the task," said Anh, who was the national coach assistant at the World Cup Futsal 2021 in Lithuania.

"Of course, we will have to be focused and work hard in every match in the group round. Our main rivals will be those from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia where futsal is strongly developed," he said.

Anh hoped that his three years under the reign of local and international head coaches on the national team would help him to deliver a good job in Thailand.

Việt Nam's best result at the championship was second place in 2016 (Thái Sơn Nam FC), 2017 (Sanna Khánh Hòa FC) and 2019 (Sanatech Khánh Hòa FC).

Since its first competition in 2015, the championship trophy has belonged to Thai representatives.

In other futsal news, Thailand and Việt Nam will take part in the Continental Futsal Championship 2022 as they gear up for the AFC Futsal Championship 2022 at the end of September.

The Continental Futsal Championship 2022 will be held between September 11-16 in Thailand.

Following the official draw early this week, host Thailand was placed in Group A against Morocco and Mozambique.

Group B are Iran, Finland and Việt Nam.

For the AFC Futsal Championship 2022, Thailand are in Group A against Kuwait, Iraq and Oman while Việt Nam are in Group D against Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

The tournament will be from September 25 to October 20 in Kuwait. VNS