U-19 Vietnam eyes world football competition

December 30, 2013 | 09:06

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The Vietnamese national U-19 football team sets a high target at the 2014 Asian U-19 Football Championship: win a spot to advance to the U-20 World Cup in the following year.

The team sets a goal to be in top four of the 2014 Asian U-19 Football Championship to be held in October in Myanmar, which means holding one of the four direct tickets to advance to the final round of the U-20 World Cup in 2015 in New Zealand.

To fulfill the targets, Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) Group and owner of the football academy HAGL - Arsenal JMG, has approved a long-term comprehensive overseas training plan for the team, with most players coming from his football school. The plan will be forwarded to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) for approval at a meeting planned on Jan.10 in Hanoi.

In addition, HAGL will also coordinate with VFF to organize an international tournament in Ho Chi Minh City in January, 2014 with the participation of strong rivals such as U-19 Japan, U-19 AS Roma FC, and U-19 Tottenham to create chances for the Vietnamese youth team to learn.

After the friendly tourney, the U-19 Vietnam team will leave for Belgium for a month-long training session. The team will later be disbanded so that the players can take part in a high school graduation exam in June before re-assembling for a training trip in England until October.

Mr. Duc said he approved the entire financial cost of the training trips and added that he will assign coach Grachen Guillaume of his school to train the team at the tournaments.

Players of the U-19 Vietnamese team are also the nation’s hopefuls at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.

Tuoi Tre

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