The Lebanon U-19 women's football team will conclude its journey in the third round of the second stage of the 2024 Asian Cup qualifiers with a match against Iran on Wednesday, June 7, at the "Viet Tri" stadium in Vietnam at 12:00 PM Beirut time. The match is considered inconsequential as both teams have been eliminated from qualifying for the 2024 Asian Cup, following Lebanon's losses to Australia and Vietnam 0-5 and 0-3, respectively, while the Iranian team lost to Vietnam 2-3 and Australia 0-3.
Today's match against Vietnam was difficult for the Lebanese team, which faced high pressure from the opponent from the start, resulting in Vietnam scoring in the 30th minute. The Lebanese defense held strong until the 45+4 minute when Vietnamese player Minh Chuyen scored from a counterattack. In the second half, the Lebanese team managed to keep pace with the physical fitness and speed of the Vietnamese team, which capitalized on a defensive error from Lebanon to enhance its score in the 77th and 79th minutes.
Commenting on the match, coach Joanna Hamze expressed pride in her players, noting that they fought hard on the field and gave their best, confirming that the process of developing the players and gaining experience continues.
The Lebanon team included: Selina Malek, Julie Attallah, Amina Karima, Carly Harfouch, Waad Raad (Heba Aloush at 57), Stephanie Qazzi (Zahra Assaf at 83), Zouha Arabi, Sophie Fayyad, Kristy Maalouf, Huda Hamze (Maria Selim at 46’), and Serena Mansour (Shireen Karneeb at 75).
Eight teams are participating in the second stage qualifiers, divided into two groups of four teams each. The qualifiers are being held in a single round-robin format in Vietnam and Myanmar from June 3 to 7. The top two teams from each group will qualify directly for the Asian Cup, which will take place from March 3 to 16, 2024. Teams that have already qualified include the top three teams from the 2019 U-20 Asian Championship held in Thailand: Japan, North Korea, and South Korea, along with host Uzbekistan.
