Off the wire
• China, Russia vow to bring cooperation on law enforcement, security to new height  • Scottish economy grows by 2.7 pct in 2014  • Serbian pensioners protest against pension cut  • EU approves disbursement of 100 mln euros to Tunisia  • Japanese fiber firm develops wearable electrocardiogram textile  • Indian Army contingent to join Moscow Victory Day Parade  • Feature: Chinese enterprises showcase innovations in world's biggest industrial fair  • Italian parliament approves anti-terrorism law  • 13,000 accounts closed for online blackmail, fraud  • Vietnam detects seven corruption cases in Q1  
You are here: 　 Home

Vietnam considers tough group in 2018 World Cup qualifiers

Xinhua, April 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Vietnam said its football team was placed in a tough group after the round 2 draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup held in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur.

Specifically, Vietnam was included in Group F together with Thailand, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Iraq.

"It is a competitive group," Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) deputy chairman Tran Quoc Tuan who was Vietnamese representative at Tuesday's draw was quoted by Vietnam News, an edition of Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA as saying on Wednesday.

"We will play Thailand and Indonesia, arch-rivals in our region and also the Asian defending champions Iraq. I think the game between Vietnam and Thailand will be a match to watch. Thailand is ASEAN champion. Recently our U23 team lost 1-2 to them in a friendly in March. All these elements will motivate us to prepare carefully to beat not just Thailand but also other teams in the group," Tuan was quoted.

In recent 19 meetings, Vietnam have lost 12 to Thailand and won just three, drawing the remaining four. Ranked 125th in the world, Vietnam has played Indonesia 18 times, lost seven and won four. Vietnam met Iraq once in 2007 and lost 0-1, while they beat Chinese Taipei 4-1 in their only game in the past.

The Thao & Van Hoa (Sport and Culture), another edition of VNA, on Wednesday quoted Cong Vinh, a famous Vietnamese striker as saying that "the dream of World Cup is too far for Vietnam."

Meanwhile, Trieu Quang Ha, former player of Vietnamese football team also said on The Thao & Van Hoa that "It is a tough group for Vietnam when it is placed together with Thailand, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Iraq."

Commenting on an article by VNExpress online newspaper, reader Nguyen Van Huan said Vietnam needs to take more efforts to surpass Thailand if it wants to secure the second place of the group as Iraq and Thailand are two strongest teams.

Reader Thien Bao commented on the article that "Iraq will top the group and it is hard for Vietnam to earn the second place. Try your best!"

Another reader named Thang Tran Viet said "I hope that Vietnam can surprise its football fans."

The draw of 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup divided 40 teams into eight groups of five teams each for the FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. The top eight teams and four best group runners-up will progress to the Asian World Cup qualifying round as well as the Asian Cup. The home-and-away round robin tournament will start on June 11 this year and finish on March 29 next year.

The remaining 28 teams will compete for the other 12 places at the Asian Cup, which has been expanded from 16 to 24 teams for 2019, besides the 12 entering qualifying round. Endi