The Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) will devise suitable training programmes for national football teams in the coming time as many activities have been rescheduled due to the acute respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19), said VFF Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan.

The Viet Nam men's football team (Photo: VNA)

A friendly between the men’s football teams of Viet Nam and Iraq, which was initially slated for March 26 in Viet Nam, will be cancelled due to the COVID-19 epidemic and at the request of the Iraq Football Association.

The match is part of Viet Nam’s preparations for their upcoming match against Malaysia in the Asian zone’s second qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup on March 31.

The VFF informed head coach Park Hang-seo about its decision of not holding the friendly match with Iraq. It will work with the coach to have a solution to ensure the preparation for Viet Nam ahead the fixture with Malaysia, said Le Hoai Anh, General Secretary of the VFF.

The Vietnamese team will convene on March 21 in the south of the country in order to climatise the players with warmer weather conditions ahead of their crucial game against Malaysia.

Viet Nam are topping Group G with 11 points after five matches. They will play Malaysia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates in matches held from March to June.

The eight group winners and four best runners-up will qualify for the final round of World Cup qualifiers.

Meanwhile, the women’s team is aiming for berths at international tournaments, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, 2023 World Cup and 2021 Asian Cup. The team recently advanced to the play-off round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Overseas training sessions for female players, especially for young ones, are under progress, Tuan added.

This June, the Viet Nam’s U20 team is set to compete at the 2020 Toulon Tournament, which will also be contested by teams of Japan, Qatar, Russia and hosts France.

(Source: VNA)