Vietnam target quarterfinals at AFC Futsal Finals

Vietnam’s futsal team, coached by Spaniard Bruno Garcia, departed for Uzbekistan on January 27 to participate in the finals of the 2016 AFC Championships, taking place in the East Asian country from February 10 to 21.

The Vietnam futsal team (Credit: VFF)
The Vietnam futsal team (Credit: VFF)

As planned, Vietnamese players will have 12 days to adapt to the weather condition in Uzbekistan as well as make last-minute preparations for the final stage.

During this period, Vietnam is set to play a friendly match against the hosts on February 1 and China five days later.

The AFC Finals will see 16 qualified teams compete in four groups of four, with Vietnam placed in Group C, alongside Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Tajikistan.

Participants will play in a round robin tournament, with the top two teams from each group advancing into the knock-out round.

The top five teams of the AFC finals will qualify for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, scheduled for next September in Colombia, as the AFC representatives. This also means that the four semifinalists will secure direct tickets to Colombia, while the remaining slot will be available for contention among the four quarterfinal losers.

Vietnam is targeting to book a quarterfinal berth before striving to make the top five, realising their dream of attending the World Cup in Colombia.

The team will meet Chinese Taipei on February 11 before taking on the remaining group opponents, Tajikistan and Thailand on February 13 and 15 respectively.