U22 Việt Nam go young for Cambodia tourney
The Vietnamese men’s U22 football team will be undermanned in Cambodia for the 2019 AFF U22 Championship, said head coach Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn.
The team is currently training at the headquarters of Việt Nam Football Federation (VFF) to prepare for the tournament, held in Cambodia from February 17 to 26.
Over the past few months, the team have played four friendly matches to gain experience.
The coach said he was pleased with all the results, but he admitted he and his players had a lot to improve upon.
“The most important thing now is the bond between players, as people come from different clubs and our training time is quite short,” said the coach.
Another concern is the team will be made up entirely of U20 players, meaning some players from 20 to 22 years old like Nguyễn Quang Hải and Đoàn Văn Hậu can not attend.
“If all of us gather together, a lot of good players can be called. Some others are preparing for the V.League which will launch at the same time as this tournament. After the match with Ulsan Huyndai, I also have to return three players to Viettel,” he added.
The team will finish training on February 2 and take five days off for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays before gathering again in HCM City.
“We have built exercises to each player so they will train and maintain their form during holidays,” said Tuấn.
