Women’s squad for Olympic play-off announced

Vietnam's women’s football team left for Australia yesterday to prepare for the match with Australia in the upcoming AFC Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament play-off. (Photo vtc.vn)

Head coach Mai Duc Chung on March 2 named a 19-strong national women’s football team to prepare for their match with Australia in the upcoming AFC Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament play-off.

Young striker Pham Hai Yen is likely to play alongside striker and captain Huynh Nhu.

“Competing against strong rivals like Australia, Vietnam will play on the counter-attack. In recent training sessions, the players have trained very hard to prepare for a berth at the Tokyo Olympics,” said Chung.

The Vietnamese team also left for Australia on March 2 to take part in the first leg at the McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on March 6.

Following the game in Australia, the second leg will take place at Cam Pha Stadium in the northern province of Quang Ninh on March 11.

Vietnam finished second in the third qualification round of Group A, while Australia topped Group B.

Vietnam are ranked 32nd in the world and sixth in Asia, and have never competed at a World Cup or Olympics. Australia stand seventh in the world and are top of the continental rankings. The team have taken part in seven out of eight World Cups and advanced to the quarter-finals in 2007, 2011 and 2015./. 

VNA