Coach Toshiya Miura of Vietnam has said his players were ready for their first match against Iran at the Asian Games at Ansan Wa Stadium on September 15.

The Japanese coach said on September 14 that he did not know much about Iran's U23 team and had watched a match of its U22 squad during an Asian qualifier. However, Miura confirmed that Iran were one of the continental powerhouses and were at a higher level than Vietnam.

The two teams are in Group H together with Kyrgyzstan. Their game is the opening match of the group while that of groups A, C and D kicked off on September 14.

During September 14 training shift, Miura asked his players to work hard on defence to frustrate Iran's scorers and had done their best to achieve that result. Vietnam had played several friendly matches, the last one ending in victory against Bangladesh, 4-2, last on September 10.

In Group A, Saudi Arabia beat Laos, 3-0, and hosts Republic of Korea defeated Malaysia, 3-0. In Group C, Tajikistan beat Singapore, 2-1, and Palestine defeated Oman, 2-0. In Group D, Iraq trounced Nepal, 4-0, and Japan stunned Kuwait, 4-1.-VNA