Monday, 24 February 2014
Asian futsal reigning champions Japan will renew acquaintances with Kyrgyzstan as they were drawn into Group D during an official draw for the AFC Futsal Championship Vietnam 2014 on Saturday.
The Japanese beat the Central Asians 1-0 in their quarterfinal tie in the previous edition hosted by the UAE in 2012 and now they will be locking horns again in their group which will also see another Central Asian side Uzbekistan and Korea Republic as fellow contenders.
Last edition’s third-place winners Iran are also renewing their affairs with fourth-placed Australia, both of whom advanced to the knockout stage after finishing in the top two in their group.
Both sides will be eye to eye again in this year’s competition alongside China and Indonesia completing Group B as a result of the draw.
UAE 2012’s runners-up Thailand were pitted against quarterfinalists Lebanon, Chinese Taipei and Malaysia in Group C.
Hosts Vietnam will be entertaining last edition’s quarterfinalists Kuwait, Tajikistan and Iraq in Group A.
The top three ranked teams from the previous edition -- Japan, Thailand and Iran -- qualified automatically to the finals while the Vietnamese qualified as hosts. The other 12 teams qualified from their respective qualifying zones.
Altogether 16 teams are taking part in this year’s showdown which will be held from 30 April to 10 May.
courtesy: the-AFC.com
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