Hosts Vietnam face tough test at coming Asian Cup

Vietnam is ready to host the Asian Cup in July, Vietnam Football Federation (VFF)’s general secretary Tran Quoc Tuan confirmed on 3rd May.

The premier Asian international football competition, slated to run from July 4-29, will be co-hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam – for the first time.

The Vietnamese team, in Group B, will have their work cut out against Asian power-houses like defending champions Japan and Asian Games winners Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia will also face an uphill battle against strong rivals.

Thailand in Group A will meet Australia, who are making their competition debut, and Asian Games runners-up Iraq and Oman.

Indonesia have drawn Group D and will play South Korea, Saudi Arabia – who qualified for the 2006 Germany World Cup – and semi-finalists in the last Asian Cup Bahrain.

China, in Group C, will play Iran, Uzbekistan and co-host Malaysia.

Vietnam will be hosting six group games at the National My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi. The two top teams in each group will go through to the quarter-finals, one of which will also be held at the My Dinh Stadium, as will a subsequent semi-final match.

“We expect Vietnam to play all out because the Asian Cup is one of the biggest tournament’s of the year, Vietnam will try to make it a success,” Tuan said.

Vietnam has never before qualified for the group stages of the Asian Cup, Tuan said, adding that the Cup would give the national team valuable international-level experience.

The VFF expects nearly 10,000 Japanese fans to come to Hanoi to watch their team play – in addition to more than 1,000 international reporters.

Vietnam’s highest achievement in the Asian Cup was a 1-0 victory over South Korea in the qualifying rounds in Oman in 2003. However, the team failed to progress to the final round.

Bangkok will be holding the Cup’s opening ceremony and first game on July 7. The two semi-finals will take place in Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur, while the final will be held in Jakarta on July 29.

Defending champions Japan, who beat China 3-1 in Beijing three years, have the best Cup record, having won three times.

VNS