The national Olympic football team of Vietnam will face stiff competition in group B with upper tier teams Iran, Bahrain and Turkmenistan at the 2010 Asian Games, which will be held from November 12-27 in Guangzhou, China.
Vietnam, now at the 125th place on the FIFA ranking table released last month, will take on Bahrain -- the world’s number 75 -- on November 8, said the organizer Monday.
The side will face Turkmenistan (129th) on November 10 and the 2006 Asiad third-placed Iran (ranked 57th) three days later.
The Asian Games’ men’s football division will have 24 teams competing in six groups with the top two teams of each group and four best third-placed teams -- based on goals scored -- qualifying for the last 16 round.
The women’s football event will have seven teams separated in two groups and top two teams of each group qualifying to the semifinals.
Vietnam are in group A with hosts China, South Korea and Jordan while Thailand, Japan and defending champions North Korea are in group B.
China, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan and Japan were drawn in group A. Group C has South Korea, Palestine, Jordan and North Korea. Defending champion Qatar, Kuwait, India and Singapore are in group D.
Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Bangladesh are in group E and Thailand, Oman, Pakistan and Maldives in group F.
The 16th Asian Games, which is held every four years, feature 476 events in 42 sports.
