VN women battle for World Cup spot

No team from Southeast Asia have ever qualified for the World Cup, which will see the number of teams increase to 24, giving Asia five slots from the earlier three.

Japan, China, Australia and South Korean have already taken the first four places by qualifying for the semi-finals of the tournament being played in HCM City.

Viet Nam and Thailand finished third in their respective groups.

Viet Nam beat Jordan but then lost to Japan and Australia, while Thailand lost to China and South Korea before labouring to a win over Myanmar.

“Our players are ready for the play-off against Thailand and I think both teams share an equal chance of winning the game,” Viet Nam’s Chinese coach Chen Yun Fa told a pre-match press conference.

“But I hope that the advantage of playing at home in front of home fans will help Viet Nam achieve the desired result.”

The Thais are also very confident and said they would go all out for a win and a ticket to the World Cup.

“It’s a 50-50 chance for both Viet Nam and Thailand,” Thai coach Nuengrutai Srathongvian said.

Thailand have improved their record against Viet Nam in recent years after being rolled over for long.

In fact, in their last encounter in a major tournament, they edged out Viet Nam 2-1 to take the Southeast Asian Games title in Myanmar last December.