Vietnam, China's opponents in the third round of the Round of 12, arrived in Dubai, UAE, in the early hours of October 1 local time, which coincided with the end of China's warm-up match against Syria shortly after.
It is reported that the main head of the Vietnamese Embassy in the UAE personally went to the airport to meet the team, a move that side by side shows Vietnam's firm support and great importance to the task of the national team to hit the World Cup in Qatar.
The Vietnamese team departed from their resident hotel in Hanoi late in the night on September 30 and took an early morning flight to Dubai, arriving safely by 5:00 a.m. local time on October 1st.
Upon arrival in Dubai, the team members followed the local immunization policy and underwent a group nucleic acid test at the airport before traveling by vehicle to their hotel in Sharjah.
The main head of the Vietnamese Embassy in the UAE led some of its staff and representatives of Vietnamese expatriates living in the region to the airport to welcome the Vietnamese team.
It is worth noting that Vietnam also traveled to the UAE to compete during the Top 40 tournament back in June this year, when the embassy's main head also personally greeted the team at the airport and provided the team with a lot of assistance. This is further proof of the importance Vietnam attaches to its national team's quest for a place in the World Cup.
It is worth mentioning that the hotel where the Vietnamese team stayed is the same hotel that the Chinese team rented locally during the 40-team tournament.
According to the plan, the Vietnamese team will have a rest upon arrival at the hotel before heading to the training ground for their first outdoor training session since arriving in the UAE at 7 p.m. local time.
