Hanoi (VNA) - To prepare for the organisation of the 2024 Asian futsal qualifiers, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has conducted seed grouping as well as announced the draw rules for the 31 participating teams, including Vietnam.
The seeding is based on the performance of the teams at the 2022 Asian futsal tournament. Teams not participating in this tournament are ranked in the lowest group.
Accordingly, Vietnam is placed in the seed No.1 group, together with Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Tajikistan, Indonesia and Kuwait.
Group 2 comprises Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Turkmenistan, Lebanon, the Republic of Korea, and Myanmar.
Group 3 gathers Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Australia, Palestine, Hong Kong (China), Timor-Leste. Meanwhile, Group 4 includes Cambodia, Maldives, Mongolia, Brunei, China, India, and Macau (China).
AFC also officially announced the list of eight places hosting the eight qualifying groups (7 groups of 4 teams and 1 group of 3 teams), which are Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan.
The Vietnamese team, led by head coach Giustozzi Diego Raul, is scheduled to get training in South America to prepare for the 2024 AFC Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers.
The Argentinian coach has decided to maintain 16 outstanding players among the 23 called for the February tournament and give chances to three new members based on their performance. A shortlist of 16 players will be announced on May 31.
Their training in South America will start in Paraguay, where the team will have three friendlies with the Paraguayan futsal team on June 4, 6, and 8. In Argentina, they will play against the team of this country on June 10, 12, and 14./.
VNA