VFF Leaders encourages and assign tasks to the U23 Vietnam

In the meeting, VFF Acting President Tran Quoc Tuan had reminders and orientations for the national U23 players. He said: “On Jan 09, the VFF Annual Congress 2021 decided the key mission of Vietnamese Football in 2022 towards 2026 while FIFA increase the participants of World Cup from 32 to 48. Therefore, the upcoming task of VFF is to create a sustainable and high-quality successor force for the team. We need to set goals and have early preparation, along with the confidence to build the strength to carry out those goals. Professional football requires striving and cultivating, if you want to maintain your form, you must practice hard and be professional in daily life. Recently, the Vietnamese team competed in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Asian 3rd Qualifier. Although there are no points after 6 matches, these matches have also brought confidence that we can compete against the top teams in the region. Some players here participated in international events from U16 to U19, some of you joined in AFC U23 Championship Qualifier. Hence, VFF hopes that you can gain experience from senior, improve yourself and contribute to the national team in the next World Cup”.

Acting President Tran Quoc Tuan also required the coaching assistants to make a detailed plan to ensure the health and success of the team at the upcoming AFF U23 Championship, as well as affirmed that VFF will always try to adapt to the most favorable conditions for players.

VFF General Secretary also shared the difficulties of the team while the tournaments were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, VFF still tried to organise the youth tournaments, in which there was the cooperation with Thanh Nien Communication Joint Stock Company to organise the U21 National Championship. Many players here joined in this competition and were selected for the national teams. This will be the group of players expected to prepare for the 32nd SEA Games held in Cambodia in 2023, and represent Vietnam to attend the Asiad 19 in Hangzhou, China.

“VFF hopes that the U23 team will ensure the training plan and epidemic prevention work to minimize the risks of the COVID-19 epidemic. At the same time, it is suggested that the coaching staff continue to focus and support the head coach, along with the efforts of the players to have the best preparation for the upcoming plan “- General Secretary Le Hoai Anh said.

On behalf of the coaching assistants, head coach Dinh The Nam thanked the attention and support of VFF over the past time. “The team spirit is relatively good. The coaching assistants also conveyed to the players this is an opportunity to develop their future. The determination to win is very important. Therefore, the coaching assistants also hopes that the players will have a longer vision and try harder to achieve success”- Head coach Dinh The Nam shared.

He also stated that the national U23 team has just added 4 more players, thereby increasing the number of players gathering and practicing at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre to 27 players. The team will gather here until traveling for the 2022 AFF U23 Championship, which will take place in Cambodia from February 14 to February 26, 2022.

As the draw results, U23 Vietnam stands in Group C with Thailand and Singapore. Group A included host Cambodia, Timor Leste, the Philippines, and Brunei. Group B included Indonesia, Malaysia, and Laos.

Teams compete in a round-robin format for 1 round to calculate ranking points in each group, choose 3 first teams and 1-second team with the best results to compete in the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will advance to the final, and the losers of the semi-finals will meet in the third prize match.

This tournament is an opportunity for young Vietnamese players of the U21 age group to rub and gain experience in international competitions. Not only serving the plan to build a force towards the SEA Games 32 in 2023 but the players with excellent performance will also be introduced to add to the U23 Vietnam squad to attend the SEA Games 31 hosted by Vietnam next May.