HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam Football Federation General Secretary Lê Hoài Anh has asked the national team to work hard to enter the final of the AFF HDBank Futsal Championship.

The regional tournament kicks off next week in HCM City and is the final key task of coach Miguel Rodrigo and his players this year.

Việt Nam are in Group A with the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei and Myanmar. Group B has Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and East Timor.

“Everyone knows how strong Thailand are after they bagged 12 out of 13 trophies. Indonesia and Malaysia are also potential contenders this year,” Anh said at a press conference, held to launch the tournament on Wednesday in HCM City.

“Việt Nam’s futsal has made remarkable progress recently. “We took part in the SEA Games in August, the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games last year and undertook a training course in China. The national team have been given the best conditions for training and competing. Our target here will be the last match and we will try our best to win a gold medal,” Anh said.

Việt Nam’s best results at the AFF event were two silvers in 2009 and 2012. The squad finished third in 2010, 2013 and 2014.

Teams will compete in a round robin format with the two strongest teams of each group advancing to the knock-out stage.

They will also take their slots to compete at the Asian competition in Chinese Taipei next February.

“We hope Việt Nam will write a new chapter after participating in such a high quality tournament. We competed at the World Cup last year, and on a beautiful day, we will make magic and spread the name of Việt Nam in the world,” Lê Thành Trung, deputy general director of HDBank, the key sponsor of the tournament, said.

The tournament will begin on October 26 at the Phú Thọ Gymnasium and entrance is free.

In the opener, Brunei will play Myanmar. Việt Nam’s first match is against the Philippines on October 27.

Vietnamese players on Wednesday flew to China to participate in a friendly tournament.

They will first meet Croatia today, the hosts tomorrow and the Netherlands on Sunday.

It is the second time Việt Nam are invited to the Chinese tournament. Last year they claimed a silver medal after one win and one draw. — VNS