National football, futsal teams busy with plans in 2024’s H2

Football 

The Việt Nam national football team are getting ready for two important tournaments. Photo of VFF

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam football teams will have busy schedules training and competing ahead of important tournaments in the last five months of 2024, according to the national football governing body (VFF).

The men's senior side under coach Kim Sang Sik will take part in the 2024 ASEAN Championship known as the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 from November 23 to December 21.

The nine highest ranked teams would automatically qualify, with the 10th and 11th ranked teams playing a two-legged qualifier. The ten teams will be split into two groups and play a round robin system with each team playing two home and two away fixtures. The top two sides of each group will advance to the knockout stages consisting of two-legged semi-finals and finals.

Kim was asked to bring Việt Nam to the final match.

They then will participate in the third qualification round of the Asian Cup 2027 which will begin in March, 2025.

Under current plans players will have short training camps on FIFA Days in September, October and November with international friendly matches with quality rivals to be confirmed at a later date. 

The women's senior team do not have international tournament this year after the regional championship has been moved to 2025.

VFF said it was time for all ASEAN teams to prepare their strongest lines-up for the title. 

The female players take five rest months of 2024 to improve quality for 2025 season. -- Photo of VFF

Vietnamese women are getting a lot of support aiming to find their place back on top. Việt Nam failed to defend their crown in the 2022 edition after unexpectedly losing 3-4 to Myanmar in the third-place playoff in the Philippines.

The team will have a training camp and take part in an international friendly event in China in the next few months. 

Before the AFF Cup, they will defend their title at the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand and then compete at the 2026 Asian Cup qualification.

According to VFF President Trần Quốc Tuấn, football leaders of German and Spanish federations promised to assist Việt Nam football, in particular the women's side, with training camps in their advanced facilities.

The men's futsal team set high targets at the Southeast Asian championship and sixth AIMG6 in November. -- Photo of VFF

In the futsal news, the men's team will compete in the Southeast Asian championship and sixth Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games (AIMG6), both in November.

The team, under coach Diego Giustozzi, is set to be in top two of the first event and top four of the second.

The female futsal players plan to be in AIMG6's top four. -- Photo of VFF

Meanwhile the female squad, which finished second at an international friendly tournament last month in China, will keep eyes on the AIMG6's top four and strive for a medal.

The VFF also set targets for the junior players.

They are to take part in the qualifiers of the Asian U17 and U20 Cups and asked to qualify for the finals. 

The first one will be held on October 23-27 with Việt Nam as hosts of Group I.

In total, 43 teams were divided into 10 groups - seven of four each and three of five. The 10 group winners and five best second-placed teams among all groups will advance to the finals, with Saudi Arabia scheduled to host the tournament between April 3-20, 2025.

The second one, Việt Nam, hosts of Group A, will hold the matches from September  21-29.

In total, 45 teams were divided into 10 groups - five groups of four each and five groups of five. The 10 group winners and five best second-placed teams among all groups will advance to the Finals, with China scheduled to host the tournament between February 6-23, 2025.

VFF said there were plans to send them to abroad for training and friendly competitions so that the young players could sharpen their skill and improve their knowledge and experience.

Specifically, the younger ones will be summoned in late August and fly to China for a tournament. They then will move to Japan for an intensive training course.

Meanwhile the older ones will join them in Japan in September and will have friendly matches with local teams.

VFF will also set up plan for the U23s with training course and matches in the next few weeks. VNS