Iraq team captain highly appreciates Japan and praises Vietnam team

Iraq captain Jalal Hassan highly appreciated the Vietnamese team as they prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup finals which will open next week in Qatar.

The 2023 Asian Cup finals will be held in Qatar. (Source: VFF)

Before officially entering the 2023 Asian Cup finals in Qatar, Jalal Hassan - goalkeeper and captain of Iraq, commented on the teams in Group D.

Jalal Hassan highly appreciates the Japanese team, the brightest candidate for the Asian football championship title.

The Vietnamese team also received praise from Hassan, while he did not consider Indonesia as an opponent.

Iraq just "hardly" won against Vietnam in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, so Hassan understands quite a lot about coach Philippe Troussier's team.

According to Hassan, this is the opponent that Iraq must be wary of in the race for a ticket to the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup.

"Iraq is in a relatively difficult group, because the top candidate for the championship is Japan," said Hassan. "I think Japan will go very far in this tournament thanks to the strength of the players playing in Europe."

The 32-year-old goalkeeper continued to comment: "In addition, the group also has a very developed Vietnam team."

Iraq just beat Indonesia 5-1 so Hassan does not consider coach Shin Tae Yong's team a formidable opponent.

When asked about the possibility of reaching the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup, Hassan was optimistic: "With Iraq, I also believe that we will get a ticket to the next round even though the opportunity for all teams is the same."

Iraq will play a friendly match against South Korea on January 6. The "Mesopotamian Lions" will play their first match in the Asian Cup against Indonesia on January 15.

( according to Vietnamnet )

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