Historic hits from Vietnam’s youth teams

Success with rejuvenation strategy

In the 41st minute of the final of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in Changzhou (China), in the white snow, Nguyen Quang Hai calmly drew a beautiful ball. The ball rolled over the head of the Uzbek defense before hitting the “dead” corner of the goal. The goal broke tens of millions of Vietnamese fans. But with Quang Hai, he is somewhat… calmer and cooler. That is not the only beautiful goal that Quang Hai has for U23 Vietnam in the magical journey at the U23 Asian Cup that year.

Previously, Quang Hai scored four important goals against Qatar, Australia and South Korea. Before that, Quang Hai scored 8 goals and played 51 matches in the V.League and played 3 times in the AFC Champions League for Hanoi FC’s 1st team. At the age of eighteen and twenty, Quang Hai has matured through being forged with such a high density and quality of matches.

But not only Quang Hai, in the formation for the final of the 2018 Asian U23 Championship, there are 7 other players who have played at least 30 matches in the V.League. Cong Phuong, Van Thanh, Xuan Truong, Tien Dung, Duy Manh were introduced and soon became mainstays right from the 2015 season. Duc Huy, Dinh Trong were also present with great frequency when playing in V.League 2016, particularly Dinh Trong soon emerged as the leading “Western hunting” central defender in Vietnam, after the first 2 seasons with 46 matches (out of 52 maximum matches) in the V.League.

That said, the success of U23 Vietnam with a silver medal at the 2018 AFC U23 Asian Cup is not something that fell from the sky. In fact, about 4 years before that tournament milestone, Vietnam’s football development strategy to 2020 and vision to 2030 has oriented towards a strong rejuvenation policy in professional tournaments. Faces 18-19 years old are encouraged to create more opportunities to play. It is the consensus on the above viewpoints among the clubs, VPF and VFF that has created a successful launch pad for players born in 1995-1997.

Following the historic hits

With a skilled force and early maturity in the professional football environment at the V.League, U23 Vietnam under the guidance of head coach Park Hang-seo also gained more popularity at ASIAD 2018, with the finish in fourth place. of the prize. Right after 1 year, the 1997 players and young faces born in 1998, 1999 were “armored” also creating another historic milestone when they won the first SEA Games gold medal for Vietnamese football. Not stopping there, two years later, when the SEA Games were held at home, Mr. Park’s U23 Vietnam successfully defended the prestigious Gold Medal.

U23 Vietnam under the leadership of coach Gong Oh Kyun also created a novelty with a beautiful attacking play at the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup. Notably in this tournament, Mr. Gong helped Vietnamese football to discover some young faces. Quan Van Chuan, Vu Tien Long, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Khuat Van Khang, Nguyen Van Truong, and Phan Tuan Tai are considered capable of following in the footsteps of their seniors, in their ambitions towards the 2026 World Cup dream.

At other youth team levels such as U16 and U19, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting development activities, Vietnam U16 and U19 teams have also made remarkable achievements. U16 Vietnam has just won a silver medal at the AFF Cups. Meanwhile, U19 Vietnam of coach Dinh The Nam has just won third place in the region, before getting tickets to the 2023 U20 Asian Cup.

However, there is a fact that must be frankly acknowledged. That is in 2020 and 2021, the number of young players playing in the V.League like the senior generation is not much. It was not until 2022, before the tournament format returned with two legs to go and return, plus the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic being pushed back in Vietnam, did young faces begin to appear and confidently express themselves. The players of the 10x generation such as Dinh Duy, Phi Hoang, Vy Hao, Manh Dung, Tuan Tai, Hai Long … have been playing more and more in the V.League. That is the foundation for young Vietnamese teams to confidently follow their successes, such as the period 2018-2022 gathering illustrious victories.

Coach HOANG ANH TUAN:
“Always ready for the next generation for young teams”

Talking about young teams, coach Hoang Anh Tuan – who helped U20 Vietnam to attend the 2017 U20 World Cup finals gave his opinion: “The success of a football in general or a youth team in particular comes from the continuity. Like Vietnamese football, after Cong Phuong, we have the Quang Hai generation. Right after Quang Hai’s generation, we continue to find trust from Van Hau and the young players after that. In order to do this, I think that Vietnamese football leaders and experts need to think of a solution to organize a reserve tournament, parallel to the current national championship and national youth tournament, to solve this problem for young players to play. In addition, I think that Vietnamese football should have a fund for young football to organize a tournament or support so that clubs can pay more attention and develop young players.”