Vietnamese futsal aims for three important goals in 2022

By Hoang Nguyen March 9, 2022 | 09:54 pm PT

Nguyen Dac Huy (number nine) celebrates after scoring from a header for Vietnam in the FIFA Futsal World Cup game with Russia on September 22, 2021. Photo by FIFA

The Vietnamese futsal team will play in three major events this year, the AFF Championship, SEA Games 31 and Asian Cup.

The 2022 AFF Futsal Championship, scheduled for April 3-12 in Thailand, will also serve as the Southeast Asian regional qualifying tournament for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup later this year in Kuwait, with three teams advancing.

Vietnam will compete for a semifinal spot with Myanmar, Timor Leste and Australia in group B. Australia and Vietnam are the favorites.

Despite being one of the top teams in Southeast Asia, Vietnam have failed to qualify for the Asian Championship for seven years now and the team want to change that in April.

A month later, in May, the team will compete in the 31st SEA Games and the target is the gold medal. In 2017, the most recent games to feature futsal, Vietnam only won a bronze.

Vietnam will then play in the Futsal Asian Cup in September if they qualify. There they will need to do well to accumulate points since the Asian Football Federation will decide the seeding for the groups at the 2024 World Cup qualifiers based on the results of the last two Asian Cup events.

The pressure will be intense from April to May as head coach Pham Minh Giang and his assistants have to ensure peak form for the team to achieve the first two goals before thinking about September.