Việt Nam’s U23 team. — Photo zing.vn |
HÀ NỘI — The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will re-draw the Asian Games (ASIAD) U23 men’s tournament in Malaysia today.
The earlier draw was scrapped because the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Palestine were reportedly mistakenly omitted from the draw by hosts Indonesia. Việt Nam’s U23 team were originally drawn in Group D with Japan, Pakistan and Nepal.
With the participation of UAE and Palestine, the ASIAD’s men’s football will have a total of 26 teams.
Việt Nam are still in the second-seeded pot alongside Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong and Palestine. Group 1 consists of Indonesia, North Korea, South Korea, Thailand, Iraq, and Japan.
Việt Nam convened on Monday at the PVF Centre in Hà Nội and will play friendly matches against the U23 sides of Palestine, Oman and Uzbekistan to prepare for the ASIAD in early August at the Mỹ Đình National Stadium.
The men’s football is set to kick off on August 14 and finish on September 1 in Indonesia.
At the ASIAD 2014 held in Incheon, Việt Nam under the guidance of Japanese coach Toshiya Miura, progressed from the qualifying round before losing to UAE in the quarter-finals. — VNS