Việt Nam women’s football team left for Australia yesterday to prepare for the match with Australia in the upcoming AFC Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament play-off. Photo vtc.vn

HÀ NỘI Head coach Mai Đức Chung yesterday named a squad of 19 players for the national women’s football team to prepare for their match with Australia in the upcoming AFC Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament play-off.

Young striker Phạm Hải Yến is likely to play alongside striker and captain Huỳnh Như.

“Competing against strong rivals like Australia, Việt Nam will play on the counter-attack. In recent training sessions, the players have trained very hard to prepare for a berth at the Tokyo Olympics,” said Chung.

Việt Nam team also left for Australia yesterday to take part in the first leg at the McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on March 6.

Following the game in Australia, the second leg will take place at Cẩm Phả Stadium in the northern province of Quảng Ninh on March 11.

Việt Nam finished second in the third qualification round of Group A, while Australia finished top of Group B.

Việt Nam are ranked 32nd in the world and sixth in Asia, and have never competed at a World Cup or Olympics. Australia stand seventh in the world and are top of the continental rankings. The team have taken part in seven out of eight World Cups and advanced to the quarter-finals in 2007, 2011 and 2015. VNS