U22 Vietnam in the same group as Malaysia and Thailand in an easy group at SEA Games 33

The draw put U22 Vietnam in group B, against U22 Malaysia and U22 Laos, at the 33rd SEA Games taking place in Thailand.

The draw put U22 Vietnam in group B, along with U22 Malaysia and U22 Laos. This is considered a difficult group for coach Kim Sang Sik's team as they have to play a "life and death" match with Malaysia to compete for a ticket to the next round.

In group A, host Thailand meets two easy opponents, Cambodia and Timor Leste, while group C has four teams: Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines and Singapore.

U22 Vietnam meets Malaysia in the group stage of SEA Games 33. Photo: VFF

According to the competition format, the teams compete in a round robin to score points. The top three teams and the second-placed team with the best record will qualify for the semi-finals. This format makes the race for tickets to the next round in the groups much more tense and dramatic than in previous rounds.

The men's football matches are scheduled to take place from December 3 to December 18. The group stage will be held in three locations: Bangkok, Songkhla and Chiang Mai. From the semi-finals onwards, matches will be held at Rajamangala Stadium (Bangkok, Thailand). At this year's SEA Games, teams will use the U22 squad (players born from January 1, 2003 onwards) and will not have any overage players.

Men's football draw results.

At the 33rd SEA Games, U22 Vietnam aims to win the gold medal. This is a big challenge for coach Kim Sang Sik and his team because they not only have to defeat Malaysia to get through the group stage, but also have strong opponents like Indonesia or host Thailand.

Preparing for SEA Games 33, U22 Vietnam will gather next November, participating in the Four Nations tournament in China before marching to Thailand.

Also on the afternoon of October 19, the Organizing Committee conducted the draw for women's football, men's and women's futsal and some other sports . In women's football, the Vietnamese women's team fell into Group B with Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia. Group A had Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia. Thus, in both men's and women's football, host Thailand fell into an "easy" group.

Women's futsal group stage draw results

Group A: Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines.

Group B: Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u22-viet-nam-cung-bang-malaysia-thai-lan-vao-bang-de-o-sea-games-33-2454197.html