Football

Việt Nam will have a friendly match against Syria on June 20 in Nam Định Province. Photo courtesy of VFF

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam will play a friendly match against Syria on June 20 at Nam Định Province's Thiên Trường Stadium for FIFA Days.

Syria is ranked No 90 in the world rankings, five steps above Việt Nam. Their best known player is striker Omar Khribin. The 29-year-old is playing for Emirati Shabab Al Ahli on loan from Al-Wahda (Abu Dhabi) in the UAE.

Other quality players are defender Abdul Weiss, midfielders Oliver Kawo and Simon Amin and winger Amma Ramadan.

In 2018, Syria almost qualified for the World Cup, advancing to the play-off where they were ousted after losing to Australia.

At the upcoming Asian Cup finals, Syria is in pod three with Việt Nam, Bahrain, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.

The team is under coach Hector Cuper who worked at European clubs such as Valencia, Inter Milan, Real Betis and Parma. At the national level, he has led Egypt, Uzbekistan and Congo before landing in Syria.

Việt Nam has played Syria three times since 2009. The team won one, drew one and lost one. In their latest meeting in 2016, Việt Nam won 2-0.

It will be the first time Nam Định hosts a match of the national team.

Nguyễn Tiến Dũng, director of Nam Định's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, was excited about the game. He affirmed that the province would strictly cooperate with the Việt Nam Football Federation and provide all the best conditions when organising the match.

Prior to the Thiên Trường game, Việt Nam will play Hong Kong on June 15 in Hải Phòng. It will be the first international match of the hosts after the AFF Cup 2022 last January.

30 Vietnamese players will start training on June 7 in Hà Nội. VNS