What is the basis for the World Cup dream of U17 Vietnam?

Easy but difficult

Rarely has the door to the World Cup been so wide open and so frequent as it is now. The U17 World Cup being held annually for five consecutive years, starting from 2025, has given many mid-table teams from all over the world a chance to breathe in the air of a world-class atmosphere. One of them is Vietnam.

U17 Vietnam fell into a difficult group.

The ticket to the 2025 AFC U17 Championship, in a rather difficult way, if compared with the qualifying results, still helps coach Cristiano Roland and his team get one step closer to the world arena. To realize the World Cup dream, the remaining task of U17 Vietnam is to strive to win one of the top two spots in the group.

In theory, this condition sounds simple. Because the success rate for attending the World Cup is up to 50%. Compared to previous years, the path to participating in the global arena is of course much easier. A decade ago, the U17 Vietnam team of the 2000, 2001 generation of Huu Thang, Thanh Binh, Trong Long... reached the quarter-finals of the tournament. They were only 1 victory away from a World Cup ticket against Iran in this round. But in the end, coach Dinh The Nam and his team failed, thereby leaving their world dream unfinished. Indeed, compared to the journey that their seniors went through, the generation of Gia Bao, Anh Kiet, Viet Anh... now has a much greater chance of attending the U17 World Cup.

However, this is only true in the tournament regulations. In reality, U17 Vietnam still faces many unpleasant obstacles in the goal of winning one of the top two tickets to Group B of the 2025 AFC U17 Championship. The draw of luck did not favor Roland and his team, as the opponents in the same group ranged from strong to very strong.

Japan U17 naturally won a ticket to the next round, even to the top of the group. Although they have only been training for 2 weeks, with the level honed in Asia's number 1 football, coach Hiroyama Nozomi and his team quickly got into the groove. Most recently, they won both Tokyo International University Club and Thailand U17. Not long ago, the young representative of the cherry blossom country also won both matches with scores of 3-2 and 2-0 against Paraguay U17.

The two opponents competing for a ticket with U17 Vietnam are not simple. U17 Australia only lost 2-4 to U17 Saudi Arabia - the host of the 2025 AFC U17 Championship, in a goal-chasing match. Two days earlier, the representative of the kangaroo country won 5-3 against U17 Yemen. Remember, it was Yemen that made Vietnam struggle to find a draw in the qualifying round. That shows how impressive the strength of U17 Australia is in the run-up to the final round. U17 UAE is not inferior. This team has just had a relatively good preparation when drawing 2-2 with U17 Indonesia in a friendly match on March 27. In the qualifying round, this young team also beat a representative of Southeast Asia, U17 Malaysia, with a score of 2-0. The seriousness of U17 UAE also came when this team summoned Jayden Adetiba - a striker who played for the famous Arsenal youth team.

Efforts to overcome challenges

In addition to the objective strength of the opponents, the limited stature of U17 Vietnam is a subjective issue. Looking at the list, the "Young Warriors of the Golden Star" have an average height of 1m75 - the 4th shortest among the 16 teams participating in the tournament. It can be said that having a poor physique has invisibly caused many disadvantages for U17 Vietnam, especially when 2 out of 3 opponents of Roland's team, Australia and UAE, have much better stature.

Among the obstacles that must be accepted and faced, the plus point of U17 Vietnam comes from careful preparation and a force that has created cohesion over a long period of time. The U17 Vietnam squad is still the names that have accompanied Coach Roland since the U17 Asian qualifiers half a year ago until now. Not to mention, Coach Roland once won the 2024 National U17 Championship with U17 Hanoi. Many names of the capital's youth team have been promoted by Mr. Roland, creating conditions for development since then.

The preparation for the 2025 AFC U17 Championship has been carried out meticulously by the Vietnam Football Federation and the U17 Vietnam coaching staff, lasting for a month and a half, from February 22 until now. Together with 15 supporting colleagues, Coach Roland has gradually screened, evaluated and selected the 23 best names from the initial 34 players. In addition, U17 Vietnam is also one of the rare teams participating in the tournament in Saudi Arabia with 7 friendly matches. The team has had domestic matches, against PVF Youth, PVF U17, Bac Ninh, ... After completing the squad and tactical pieces, U17 Vietnam continued to win when defeating U17 Oman in 2 friendly matches, right on the opponent's field.

Regarding personnel, Coach Roland has also found valuable "cards" for U17 Vietnam, through these 7 friendly matches. These include goalkeeper Hoa Xuan Tin, central defender Nguyen Hong Quang, Le Huy Viet Anh; defender Le Quang Truong, Le Tan Dung or striker Tran Gia Bao and Nguyen Thien Phu... In fact, fans are also looking forward to the potential performance of U17 Vietnam players at the upcoming U17 Asian Cup.

Even if they cannot attend the U17 World Cup, matches with Australia, UAE or Japan are valuable lessons for young players to improve themselves, learn from their opponents and thereby contribute to the overall success of Vietnamese football in the near future.

List of Vietnam U17 team participating in U17 Asia 2025 (according to AFC)

Goalkeepers (3): Hoa Xuan Tin (Ba Ria Vung Tau), Tran Van Dat (Song Lam Nghe An), Nguyen Van Thang Long (Hanoi),

Defenders: Le Quang Truong (Hong Linh Ha Tinh), Le Huy Viet Anh (PVF Youth Football Training Center), Nguyen Hong Quang (Ba Ria Vung Tau), Le Tan Dung (Song Lam Nghe An), Pham Duc Duy (Hanoi), Bach Trong Duong (Song Lam Nghe An), Nguyen Van Quan (Hanoi), Nguyen Van Khanh (Hong Linh Ha Tinh), Tran Dong Thuc (Song Lam Nghe An)

Midfielders: Nguyen Duc Nhat (PVF Youth Football Training Center), Hoang Trong Duy Khang (PVF Youth Football Training Center), Dau Hong Phong (Hanoi), Nguyen Viet Long (Hanoi), Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc (Hanoi), Dang Cong Anh Kiet (Hanoi)

Forwards: Tran Gia Bao (HAGL), Nguyen Van Bach (PVF Youth Football Training Center), Nguyen Thien Phu (Hanoi), Nguyen Van Duong (PVF Youth Football Training Center), Bui Duy Dang (PVF Youth Football Training Center)

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Special goalkeeper of U17 Vietnam

Hoa Xuan Tin is the tallest player in the Vietnam U17 team. The goalkeeper of Ba Ria Vung Tau is 1m87 tall, although he has just turned 17. Speaking of Xuan Tin, he was a member of the U11 team that participated in the Ba Ria Vung Tau Television Cup in 2009. Thanks to his promising performance in this tournament, Xuan Tin was selected to join the Juventus Vietnam Academy, the predecessor of the current BMG Football Academy.

With a height of 1m87, arm span of 1m83, good reflexes, and stable mentality, this goalkeeper has gradually become a potential support for the U-teams of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. In the national youth team, Xuan Tin won the U16 Peace Cup in China with the U16 Vietnam team. He is also the number 1 goalkeeper of the U17 Vietnam team in the U17 Asian qualifiers.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Chinh - Coach of U19 Ba Ria Vung Tau expects: "Xuan Tin will have a brighter future than Dinh Trieu, the number 1 goalkeeper of the Vietnam National Team at the moment. I worked with Dinh Trieu for 18 months when he was playing amateur football for the Ba Ria Oil and Gas Team, as well as coaching Xuan Tin. Therefore, I believe Tin can surpass his senior."

Source: https://cand.com.vn/so-tay-the-thao/co-so-nao-cho-giac-mo-world-cup-cua-u17-viet-nam--i764032/