Coach Mai Duc Chung sets a goal to qualify for the Olympic Games

According to the draw results yesterday 18/5, Vietnam is in Group C with Japan, Uzbekistan and India. Group A has Australia, Philippines, Taiwan and Iran. Group B consists of South Korea, China, Thailand and North Korea. The three groups will play in a round-robin format, with the top three teams from the group and the best runners-up going to the third qualifying round.

Besides Japan, which is too strong, the other two competitors, Uzbekistan and India, are underrated Vietnam. According to the FIFA rankings, Vietnam is ranked 33rd, Uzbekistan is 50th and India is 61st. "We have determined in advance, the opponents in the second qualifying round are very strong," said coach Mai Duc Chung. "But with the belief, solidarity and motivation from the recent 32nd SEA Games gold medal, we will try to do our best to get the best results."

After the end of the SEA Games, the female players were allowed to return to their families to rest. Tomorrow, May 21, the team will return to Hanoi to prepare to go to Germany for training in preparation for the 2023 World Cup taking place in July. Strength will be a valuable opportunity to rub shoulders, help the players accumulate experience to improve. It is also a preparation to perform well in the Olympic qualifying round to win the right to continue," added Mr. Chung.

Striker Nguyen Hai Yen also said that besides Japan's superiority, the other two opponents are not too strong, so if playing in the right form, Vietnam is completely capable of winning the second ticket. She shared: "Thailand fell in the difficult group, so their chances are not many. Only the Philippines competes with Vietnam for the second best ticket in the qualifying round. We will try our best and hope for luck. will go together to participate in the Olympics once."

The matches in the second qualifying round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place from October 23 to November 1. Group C is played in Uzbekistan.