Football

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam are determine to pass the qualifying round of Group D in the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, which will kick off today at the Việt Nam Youth Football Training Centre in Hà Nội, Coach Mai Đức Chung said at a press conference before the event on Sunday.

Việt Nam will compete against Syria, Singapore, Myanmar and Iran in the group round.

The other 16 teams are divided into three groups: Group A, Group B and Group C.

The three highest ranked women’s national teams from the last AFC Women’s Asian Cup – Japan, Australia and China – have automatically qualified in the eight-team finals. The group winners of each of the four groups will qualify for the finals in Jordan.

“At the qualification, Việt Nam highly appreciated all rivals, and the team will make every effort in each match to gain the best results. The long-term target of Việt Nam is to play in the continental arena and to win other international tournaments,” said Chung.

“Việt Nam nearly reached its World Cup’s dream in 2014. We will strive for this,” Chung added.

“Việt Nam faced several difficulties in the process of preparation for the qualification. The team’s footballers are mainly from Hà Nội, HCM City, Quảng Ninh and Hà Nam. The team had only one month of training in the bad weather, however, they showed great spirit,” noted Chung.

Myanmar and Iran will be Việt Nam’s strongest rivals in the group.

“We come to Việt Nam for a ticket to compete in the event’s final round. Although our team is very young, but under the investment of the Myanmar Football Federation we hope we will overcome the qualifying round.

In this tournament, Việt Nam is the host and has the best preparation. Every team that want to be present in Jordan must beat Việt Nam,” said head coach Reijners Roger of  Myanmar.

While the coach of Iran, Maryam Azmoon, said Iran is the strongest team in Group D, which means it will have to overcome the qualifying round.

The group round matches will continue until April 11.

As scheduled, Việt Nam will meet Syria in the opening match on April 5.

The finals, which will be held from April 7 to 22, 2018, will also serve as the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019. The five best teams will book their tickets to Paris. — VNS