Futsal ladies to take on Japanese

Vietnam plans to offer a surprise during their first match against Japan at the Asian Football Confederation Women's Futsal Championship, which begins on September 21 in Malaysia.

The two teams are competing in Group B, along with Thailand and China.

Group A consists of Iran, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong and the hosts.

Commenting on the upcoming match, head coach Truong Quoc Tuan said, "This group will be more difficult than Group A, as Japan and Thailand are very powerful teams.

"Our first rivals, Japan, play at a higher level than we do, but my team worked very hard in the past seven weeks, and will give not only Japan, but also the whole group, a shock," he said.

Vietnam defeated hosts Malaysia twice during their friendly matches while warming-up for the tournament.

They won the first match 9-2, before winning 4-2 in the second.

Tuan said his players were asked to keep their eyes on every Japanese player and offer no room for their players to play well.

At the press briefing, coach Arihara Masaaki of Japan was careful when talking about the game.

He thought all matches would be difficult and important to his team, noting that his players must play at their best it they want to defeat Vietnam.

Japan is one of the strongest teams in Asia, as the champions of the 2007 and 2009 Asian Indoor Games, and have set a target of entering the final match.

Another team to watch in the group is Thailand, the three time Southeast Asian Games champions and bronze medalist at the last Asian Indoor Games in the Republic of Korea.

Thai assistant coach Patt Sriwisit said Group B competition brings together strong teams, including Vietnam, Japan and China. But Thailand might make a ‘bang' at Nilai Stadium.

The team's first task, though, is to defeat China in the opening match of the group.-VNA