Australia team plans to participate in AFF Cup 2020 to face Vietnam team
(Baonghean.vn) - After the 2019 Asian Cup, there has been a lot of information that the Australian national team has expressed their intention to participate in the Southeast Asian Football Championship from 2020. This information was recently confirmed by a representative of the Australian Football Federation.
Recently, The Sydney Morning Herald published a surprising article about the Australian Football Federation's intention to participate in the AFF Cup finals starting in 2020. Accordingly, the article analyzed that Southeast Asia's number 1 football tournament is gradually improving its quality and organization.
Since 2013, the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) has been a member of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF), but they have not sent a national team to the AFF Cup finals due to concerns about their professional level. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, after the 2019 Asian Cup, this perception changed when Australia could not get past the quarter-finals, with the same achievement as the reigning AFF Cup champion, the Vietnam national team.
The Sydney Morning Herald wrote: "After five years of participating in the ASEAN Football Federation as a fringe member, FFA has confirmed that it will negotiate with ASEAN federations to bring the Socceroos to the region's biggest football tournament. Australia joined the ASEAN Football Federation in 2013, but they were not allowed to participate in the AFF Cup due to their superiority over other teams in the region.
However, the progress of teams like Vietnam in recent times shows that the gap between Australia and ASEAN teams has narrowed. This was demonstrated at the 2019 Asian Cup, when Australia only reached the quarter-finals like the 2018 AFF Cup champions Vietnam."
Australia wants to participate in AFF Cup 2020 because Vietnam has raised the level of Southeast Asia. Photo: Getty |
Confirming the information in this newspaper, FFA representative, Mr. David Gallop said:
“A new step in our relationship with ASEAN will be the AFF Cup. In the past, our team was considered too strong compared to our opponents in this tournament. However, now many teams have improved their skills while the Australian market will increase the commercial effectiveness of the tournament.”
Many other sources said that political agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have also supported this plan of FFA to help Australia have more connections with countries in Southeast Asia.
According to Mr. David Gallop, FFA will continue to consider and make initial plans to adjust the A-League schedule to match the AFF Cup./.
Asian Cup 2019 - where young Vietnamese players spread their wings
The Vietnam national team has really created strong confidence for fans after their impressive performance at the 2019 Asian Cup. Looking at the way Park Hang-seo's team performed, the dream of participating in the World Cup once when Asia has 8.5 participating spots is not too far-fetched!
