Vietnam’s women’s team leave for 2016 Olympic qualifiers

Vietnam’s women’s national football team will depart for Mandalay, Myanmar tomorrow to compete in the second stage of qualifiers for the 2016 Rio Olympics, scheduled to take place in three days’ time. 

The women’s team have recently completed a training course lasting one and a half months including 12 days of friendly matches in Japan.
The women’s team have recently completed a training course lasting one and a half months including 12 days of friendly matches in Japan.

>> Women’s national football team gather for 2016 Olympic qualifiers

The national team recently completed a training course lasting nearly one and a half months, 12 days of which were in Japan, where coach Takashi Norimatsu’s players participated in four friendly matches, securing two wins and two losses.

Vietnam will compete in a round robin tournament against Thailand, Myanmar, Jordan and Chinese Taipei for a position in the 2016 Rio Olympic final qualification round, to be held in Japan from February 29 to March 9, 2016.

The final stage gathers reigning Asian champions Japan, 2014 AFC Asian Cup runners-up Australia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, China, the Republic of Korea and the second round’s winners in a one-round format, with the top-two placeholders to advance into the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Vietnam will play their first match against Chinese Taipei on September 14 before taking on Myanmar, Jordan and Thailand on September 18, 20 and 22 respectively.

Jordan is considered Vietnam’s easiest challenger. In their most recent meeting at the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam broke no sweat to beat Jordan 3-1.

Meanwhile, the toughest challenges to Norimatsu’s players will be Thailand and Myanmar, with Thailand dominating women’s football in Southeast Asia over the past three years, and Myanmar having the same expertise level as Vietnam in addition to their home-field advantage.