According to assistant coach Mai Duc Chung, with the advantage of playing at home and the passionate support of tens of thousands of their fans, the Vietnamese footballers hope to take three points from the match.

However, the UAE coach, Bruno Metsu, has said that his team will go all out to beat Vietnam as his players have more experience and a higher level of skill than their competitors.

Last July the UAE team was defeated by Vietnam 2-0 in the Asian Cup 2007.

The two teams will meet in the second-leg match in the UAE on October 28.

The qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup has 43 teams battling it out for a place in the finals, including Australia, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran who were given a bye to the third round.