It took Vietnam team 7 hours from Bucaramanga to Medellin in order to prepare for game against Russia in the knockout stage of the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, as determined after the last group-stage matches concluded on September 19. 

Russia qualified as Group B leaders with nine points, while Vietnam were through to the last sixteen as one of the four best third-place finishers.

The clash between the two teams will take place at Coliseo Iván de Beodut in Colombia’s Medellín on September 21.

Russia currently rank third in the FIFA Futsal rankings, 36 places above Vietnam. The Eurasian team have been known as three-time World Cup semifinalists.

The remaining knockout matchups include Colombia–Paraguay, Brazil–Iran, Spain–Kazakhstan, Argentina–Ukraine, Italy–Egypt, Thailand–Azerbaijan and Portugal–Costa Rica.

If they overcome Russia in the September 21 clash, Vietnam will compete against the winner of the match between Spain and Kazakhstan for a quarterfinal berth.

Head Coach Bruno Garica:

Vietnam had to play in hard group with  Italia, Paraguay. However, in this knockout stage we are happy for what we have gained.

Russia is more highly ranked than Vietnam, therefore the next game will be really tough. with fairly same playing stactic with Italia and 4 Brazilian players in squad their strength is also pressing.

Thus, Vietnam have to concentrate much on playing strategies. a draw is what we need to hold till the last minutes of game.

captian Nguyen Bao Quan said that he and other players are totally believe in coach Bruno Garcia. Then they will try their best in this game.

Minh Tú