Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam's journey to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar willbegin in less than two months, with some familiar opponents in store.

The teamhave been drawn in group G for the second qualifying round with regional rivalsThailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as group favourites the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE).

The drawpresents an opportunity to progress to the next round as while the UAE are acut above, the other four teams are of a similar skill level.

The UAE,the hosts of the AFC Asian Cup 2019, beat Australia in the quarter-finals tomake it into the top four teams in the continent, but Vietnam have a goodrecent record against the Western Asian team, only losing onpenalties in the third-place playoff match of the 2018 Asian Games.

Theside Vietnam should also be confident against Thailand and Malaysia,having beaten the former in the King’s Cup in June and Malaysia in the final ofthe AFF Suzuki Cup last December.

“We haveto forget the recent win against Thailand. Thailand are still a good team and abig rival of Vietnam. However, despite who my rivals are, Vietnam still set atarget to top group to enter the third qualification of the Asian region,”midfielder Que Ngoc Hai said.

Koreanhead coach Park Hang-seo has said that the win against Thailand wasn’t hisfinal target.

“Vietnam’sgoal is to reach to the last qualifying round of the World Cup. We will do allwe can to meet the target,” Park said.

Vietnamwill begin their campaign with an away game against Thailand on September 5,facing off with newly-appointed head coach of Thailand Akira Nishino,who led Japan to the round of 16 at the World Cuplast year.

Meanwhile,President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Le Khanh Hai said Vietnamwill be put in the best possible position to beat Thailand.

“Ofcourse, the journey to the World Cup 2022 doesn’t have only the Vietnam andThailand game. Clearly, the history between the two sides is veryinteresting so fans of two countries are eager for the match. Both Vietnamand Thailand want a favourable opening. I am directing relevantdepartments to have the best preparation for Vietnam,” he said.

“I wantVietnamese players have the best care to help them have steel will andsteadfast psychology. In terms of Vietnam’s way of playing, I don’t worry muchas I believe in Park.” 

Thesecond qualifying round for Asia features 40 teams, divided into eight groupsof five teams, playing in the home-away format.

The eightgroup winners and four best runners-up will qualify for the AFC Asian Cup 2023to be held in China as well as the third and final round of World Cupqualifiers.-VNS/VNA