The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will re-draw the Asian Games (ASIAD) U23 men’s tournament in Malaysia today.

VN U23 team

The earlier draw was scrapped because the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Palestine were reportedly mistakenly omitted from the draw by hosts Indonesia. Viet Nam’s U23 team were originally drawn in Group D with Japan, Pakistan and Nepal.

With the participation of UAE and Palestine, the ASIAD’s men’s football will have a total of 26 teams.

Viet Nam are still in the second-seeded pot alongside Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong and Palestine. Group 1 consists of Indonesia, North Korea, South Korea, Thailand, Iraq, and Japan.

Viet Nam convened on Monday at the PVF Centre in Hanoi and will play friendly matches against the U23 sides of Palestine, Oman and Uzbekistan to prepare for the ASIAD in early August at the My Dinh National Stadium.

The men’s football is set to kick off on August 14 and finish on September 1 in Indonesia.

At the ASIAD 2014 held in Incheon, Viet Nam under the guidance of Japanese coach Toshiya Miura, progressed from the qualifying round before losing to UAE in the quarter-finals. — VNS