Coach Toshiya Miura of Viet Nam yesterday said his players were ready for their first match against Iran at the Asian Games at Ansan Wa Stadium t

HA NOI (VNS) — Coach Toshiya Miura of Viet Nam yesterday said his players were ready for their first match against Iran at the Asian Games at Ansan Wa Stadium today.

The Japanese coach said he did not know much about Iran's U23 team and had watched a match of its U22 squad during an Asian qualifier. However, Miura confirmed that Iran were one of the continental powerhouses and were at a higher level than Viet Nam.

The two teams are in Group H together with Kyrgyzstan. Their game is the opening match of the group while that of groups A, C and D kicked off yesterday.

During yesterday's training shift, Miura asked his players to work hard on defence to frustrate Iran's scorers and had done their best to achieve that result. Viet Nam had played several friendly matches, the last one ending in victory against Bangladesh, 4-2, last Wednesday.

In Group A, Saudi Arabia beat Laos, 3-0, and hosts South Korea defeated Malaysia, 3-0. In Group C, Tajikistan beat Singapore, 2-1, and Palestine defeated Oman, 2-0. In Group D, Iraq trounced Nepal, 4-0, and Japan stunned Kuwait, 4-1. — VNS