The team of head coach Philippe Troussier were warmly welcomed in Doha
After a 7 hours-flight, the first group of U23 Vietnam was present in Doha, Qatar. At the airport, coach Philippe Troussier’s team were warmly welcomed by representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnamese community in Qatar.
20/03/2023 10:24:20
According to the plan, the second group consisting of the remaining members of U23 Vietnam departs from Hanoi at 19:30 on March 18 and will arrive in Doha at 23:30 local time (3:30 on March 19, Vietnam time).
In Doha, U23 Vietnam was arranged by the organizers to stay at the Crowne Plaza hotel. This is one of the very comfortable hotels, used to be the team base camp of Germany and Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup.
After having a delicious meal prepared by a Thai chef and taking a rest to recover, the players will have a relaxing gym session at the hotel.
March 19, after gathering enough players, the whole team will enter the first training session in Doha, preparing for the U23 International Cup.
This tournament has the participation of 10 U23 teams including: Vietnam, Thailand, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and host Qatar. Teams are divided into groups to play 2 matches in the group stage, then will be ranked based on performance to place in the final round.
According to the schedule, U23 Vietnam will meet Iraq at 2:45 am on March 23 and meet U23 UAE at 0:30 am on March 26 (Vietnam time) in the group stage.
The time of the tournament coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. During this month, all Muslims eat and drink only after sunset. That is also the reason the matches of the tournament take place at such a late time frame.
To adapt to this competition time, coach Philippe Troussier also took the initiative to familiarize his players by organizing late-night training sessions during the training period in Vietnam.
