Two national football teams of Vietnam to play continental matches this week

October 07, 2015 | 14:29

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The Vietnamese national senior football team will face Iraq and Thailand on October 8 and 13 respectively in Hanoi in two Asian qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while the U-19 team will take on hosts Myanmar on Tuesday in an AFC U-19 Championship qualifier.

In the World Cup’s Asian qualifying Group F, Vietnam were drawn with Taiwan, Thailand, and Iraq.

Each country will play each other on a home-and-away round robin basis until the top team is decided and moves automatically to the next stage of qualification.

The Iraqi team with 23 footballers and 16 officials and staff arrived in Hanoi yesterday afternoon.

Basil Hanna, head of the Iraqi delegation, said his team are coming to the city to find victory, just like any team would be in preparation for a match.

A factor that is even more important than a win though is the fun for both the players and spectators while playing sport, he added.

Coach Yahya Alwan of Iraq called up all the best players for his team to prepare for the match in Hanoi. They include Justin Meram playing in the U.S., Yaser Kasim in the UK, Ali Adnan in Italy, and Dhurgham Ismail in Turkey.

Hanna said that he and the coach had carefully watched all the recent matches of the Vietnamese national team to work out suitable ways to deal with the hosts on Thursday.

Vietnam now rank third in the group after two matches, following a 2-1 win over Taiwan and a 0-1 defeat against Thailand.

The Thais have earned seven points, while Iraq have accumulated four points, and Taiwan zero.

The other Vietnamese national team, the U-19 squad, are to take on hosts Myanmar today in the last match of Group G in the qualifiers of the AFC U-19 Championship.

After three group-stage games, Vietnam have pocketed all nine points while Myanmar have seven.

Vietnam need just a draw from the game to book a seat in the finals of the championship in Bahrain, from October 13 to 30, 2016.

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