The Vietnam national team concludes its training camp for squad review and evaluation
On the afternoon of September 7, the Vietnam national team played a friendly match against Hanoi Police FC at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center, wrapping up a training camp focused on reviewing and assessing the squad in preparation for the upcoming fixtures of the final round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers in October.
08/09/2025 16:43:35
In the September 2025 training camp, the Vietnam national team called up 24 players. Alongside familiar names such as Quang Hải, Hoàng Đức, Duy Mạnh, Thành Chung, and Tiến Linh, the coaching staff also handed opportunities to several new faces, including striker Phạm Gia Hưng, defender Trần Hoàng Phúc, and young center-back Đinh Quang Kiệt.
However, there were changes to the squad as midfielder Doãn Ngọc Tân had to withdraw due to injury. In addition, Quang Hải and Hai Long were also sidelined with knocks. To fill the gap, head coach Kim Sang-sik called up left-back Phan Du Học (HAGL). Born in 2001 and a graduate of the fourth intake of the HAGL JMG Academy, he has previously represented Vietnam U23 and is now a regular in the V.League.
As head coach Kim Sang-sik was simultaneously in charge of the U23 Vietnam team at the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, the responsibility of leading the senior national team was entrusted to assistant coach Đinh Hồng Vinh. The squad continued training under the set program and played two high-quality friendly matches: against Thép Xanh Nam Định (defending V.League champions) on September 4 and against Hanoi Police FC (defending National Cup champions) on September 7.
The first match against Thép Xanh Nam Định proved to be a valuable test, as the opponents fielded a full lineup of 11 foreign players in preparation for the 2025/26 AFC Champions League Two. Vietnam lost 0-4, a result that came as no surprise given Nam Định’s clear superiority in terms of physique, fitness, and experience.
In the second friendly against Hanoi Police FC, Vietnam secured a 4-3 victory with goals from Tiến Linh, Tuấn Hải, Việt Hưng, and Văn Vĩ. As in the previous match, coach Đinh Hồng Vinh rotated the squad into two lineups to test personnel and tactics.
More important than the results of these two friendlies was the assessment of the key players’ form, the integration of new faces, and the experimentation of tactical options, all aimed at fine-tuning preparations for the final round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
According to the plan, the Vietnam national team will regroup during the FIFA Days in October to play two matches against Nepal in the final round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
