Vietnam remained empty-handed at the ongoing 2016 Olympics Asian women's football final qualification round in Japan, after their third game against rivals as strong as three-time Asian champions North Korea on Friday.

North Korean Ju Hyo Sim scored the only goal in the 90th minute to settle the game where both teams eyed a first win in their campaign in Osaka, sending the Vietnamese women to their third straight defeat.

Vietnam started the tourney with a 0-2 loss against China on Monday, and an emphatic 0-9 defeat against Australia two days later, whereas North Korea drew 1-1 with both China and South Korea.

The Vietnamese women, however, exhibited a stronger spirit and tougher play than in the match with the Matildas, and almost earned one point before the decisive goal in the last minute.

The Osaka tourney, running from February 29 to March 9, is the final round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers for the Rio 2016 women’s football category, according to FIFA.

Vietnam are the play-off qualifiers at the event that also includes Japan, Australia, China, South Korea and North Korea, challenging one another for only two tickets to Brazil this summer.

The 2016 Summer Olympics takes place from August 5 to 21 in Rio de Janeiro, with a 12-team tournament for women’s football.

The Vietnamese women and their coach, Mai Duc Chung, will play two more games, against hosts Japan on March 7 and South Korea on March 9.

Vietnam remain at the bottom of the table after three losses, whereas North Korea have risen to the second place behind leaders Australia.

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