The Vietnamese women’s national football team train to prepare for the last match with Jordan in their Group B qualifier of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic’s second qualifying round in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Photo: vff.org.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Vietnamese women’s national football team will face Jordan in their final Group B match of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics’ second qualifying round in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on April 9.
Vietnam only need a draw to top the group and head into the third round of qualifiers. However, coach Mai Duc Chung wants his players to go for the win.
“We will use our best line-up for the upcoming game to take a win,” said Chung.
Vietnam have six points after two matches to top Group B. Earlier, they beat Hong Kong 2-1 and then Uzbekistan 2-1. Uzbekistan only have three points, Hong Kong and Jordan have one point each.
“Jordan have better strength than Vietnam but their individual technique isn’t really flexible so if our players play with high determination, we will win,” said Chung.
According to Chung, Vietnam need to play more with concentration and control the ball against Jordan.
The round-robin tournament, held between April 1-9, brings together 12 teams, in three groups of four. The three group winners will advance to the third round, together with Australia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Republic of Korea (RoK), China and Thailand, who have already qualified.
The third round, slated for early next year, will see the eight participants play in a round-robin format in two groups, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the final round of the Asian qualifiers.
The two final round winners will join Japan as the AFC representatives at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Vietnam progressed to the final round of the 2016 Olympic qualifiers for the first time after three wins, over Myanmar, Jordan and Thailand, and one loss, against Chinese Taipei, in the second round.
However, facing five tough competitors, namely China, Japan, the RoK, Australia and the DPRK, coach Chung’s side missed out on a ticket to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Vietnamese women team now rank 35th in the FIFA rankings, seventh in Asia and second in Southeast Asia.-VNS/VNA
VNA
