HCM CITY (VNS) — Viet Nam has a chance to enter the semi-final round of the ASEAN Football Federation Women's Championship, after gaining a draw on Saturday.

The former champions, Viet Nam are in Group B with Myanmar, Malaysia and the Philippines. It is considered an easy group for the Vietnamese women to compete in, as their rivals are not notably strong.

However, Group A consists of Thailand, U20 squad of Australia, Indonesia and Laos.

Teams will play in a round-robin format in the first round. The two best teams will then advance to the semi-finals.

The tournament will be held from April 29-May 11 in HCM City.

According to plans, the Vietnamese team will have two training sessions in preparation for the championship and the qualifying round at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

This month they will welcome a new head coach from Japan. Norimatsu Aksi, age 20, will soon arrive in Viet Nam to sign a three-year contract, following a MoU between the football federations of Viet Nam and Japan signed in 2014.

Aksi will be present to watch participants in the national championship's first leg in HCM City, which kicks off this week, and then select players for the national team.

Aksi has never had international success. He also has no experience working with women's footballers. In his career, Aksi has coached a U15 and U19 squads of a local club. — VNS