Speaking at a press conference on October 22, Roland noted that as hosts, Vietnam will play at their best in all of the qualifiers.

Group I features four squads: Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Yemen, and Vietnam, playing from October 23 to 27 at Viet Tri Stadium in the northern province of Phu Tho.

Roland said his players have prepared well, with two training camps in China and Japan, and are ready for the competition.

He said this is not an easy group, and every rival is tough and many challenges await the players, but he confirmed the team aims to earn the top position to automatically qualify for the finals.

The competition will see 42 teams from across Asia vie for the title. They are divided into 10 groups, the leaders of which will join the five best second-placed teams and head to Saudi Arabia for the finals which will run from April 3 to 20.

In the first match on October 23, eight-time finalists Vietnam will play four-time Kyrgyzstan, and Myanmar and Yemen on October 25 and 27, respectively.