U.17 Vietnam players return to clubs

U.17 Vietnam has concluded its journey through the group stage of the 2025 U.17 Asia Championship. Although they finished last in the group, coach Cristiano Roland and his team played better than expected.

After 3 matches, U.17 Vietnam drew with U.17 Japan, U.17 Australia and U.17 UAE with the same score of 1-1. Le Huy Viet Anh and his teammates were the only undefeated team, but still could not reach the quarter-finals. U.17 Vietnam played well in the group of death. However, there is still a gap in level that prevents the young Vietnamese team from reaching the quarter-finals ticket.

PHOTO: MINH TU

"Greater opportunities await, and I believe many of you will go even further in the national team," coach Roland encouraged his students before the moment of farewell.

The U.17 Vietnam players will return to their home team to practice and compete in preparation for the 2025 U.17 National Qualifiers. This is still a potential playground for players to show themselves, thereby stepping into the national team jersey. Thanks to the 2024 U.17 National Tournament, Coach Roland has selected talented players to assemble the U.17 Vietnam team to play impressively as it is now.

Coach Roland himself also returned to the Hanoi Youth Football Training Center to coach the Hanoi U.17 team. It is not yet clear whether Mr. Roland will coach the next generation of Hanoi U.17s, or continue to lead the current U.17 generation up to the U.19 level.

With an acceptable performance in the U.17 Asian tournament, Coach Roland also has the opportunity to have his contract extended by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF). Mr. Roland is becoming a new factor in the Vietnamese youth football community.

What is lacking in Vietnamese youth football?

In an interview with Thanh Nien Newspaper, Coach Cristiano Roland hopes that the U.17 Vietnam players need to play more to improve.

He emphasized that VFF has tried to bring youth tournaments, but reality shows that U.17 Hanoi reaching the final, having 16 matches to play is already lucky.

PHOTO: VFF

"What about the teams that don't qualify? They only have eight games a year. That's too little for the players to get used to the pressure of competition.

They will not be able to get into the rhythm of preparing for a match, may be surprised by the pressure, not used to singing the national anthem or having fans come to the stadium to watch. The more the players get used to the pressure, the easier it is to erase the psychological barrier," said coach Roland.

The Brazilian strategist added: "For example, in Portugal, each youth team has about 40 official matches/year. Every weekend, the young players have an official match. This is necessary not only for the players, but also for the coaching staff.

There must be official matches and tournaments for the coaching staff to have a working routine, understand the organization and preparation for the tournament. Thus, having many matches will help both teachers and students improve together."