World Cup for U.17 Vietnam: Is it possible?
Vietnam U.17 has qualified for the 2025 AFC U.17 Championship finals, after passing the qualifying round undefeated. In the finals, coach Cristiano Roland and his team will compete for a ticket to the 2025 U.17 World Cup.
In previous tournaments, only teams that reached the Asian semi-finals were able to get tickets to the World Cup. However, from next year, the U.17 World Cup will expand the number of participating teams to 48. That means, if they pass the group stage, U.17 Vietnam will have a ticket to the world's highest youth football tournament.
In an interview with Thanh Nien Newspaper, Coach Roland said that U.17 Vietnam will face difficulties in the final round, but the World Cup goal is not impossible.
Coach Cristiano Roland interviewed by Thanh Nien Newspaper
- Looking back at your time coaching Vietnam U.17, especially the 3 matches in the U.17 Asia qualifiers, what made you satisfied and unsatisfied?
At the time I took over the U.17 Vietnam team, the players were not in a good mental state. Some players lost confidence after the defeat at the U.16 Southeast Asian tournament held in Indonesia. The most important thing that the coaching staff and I determined was to convey encouragement to the players. We needed to show the U.17 Vietnam team that they were capable of doing it and could play even better.
At the 2024 Peace Cup friendly tournament in China, U.17 Vietnam lost 0-4 to the host team on the opening day. I understand that there are problems around the team that make them not play well. U.17 Vietnam had to travel a long distance, only resting for 1 day before playing U.17 China. However, I told the players to look at the whole match, focusing on what they have done. That defeat is simply because the players tried hard but did not get good results.
Then, U.17 Vietnam defeated U.17 Japan. The players were filled with spirit and confidence. However, the coaching staff kept their feet on the ground to focus on the 2025 AFC U.17 qualifiers. We had prepared well, from plans, tactics to the smallest details for the 3 qualifying matches. The coaching staff not only had to outline a detailed plan, but also needed to convince the players to believe in the path we had chosen, understanding that if we tried our best and focused more on the process, the "sweet fruit" would come.
U.17 Vietnam has passed the Asian qualifiers, thus achieving the goal. I am satisfied because the players played very intelligently, knew how to adjust in each match, and adapted well to the developments on the field.
U.17 Vietnam passed the qualifying round with an unbeaten record.
- In the match against U.17 Yemen, the players played cautiously in the second half, hoping to keep the score at 1-1 to win the best second place. Some people think that this is too pragmatic for youth football, but others say that U.17 Vietnam should play like that, because football needs results. What do you think?
In football, nothing is more important than achieving the goal. As I said, the goal of U.17 Vietnam is to pass the U.17 Asian qualifiers and reach the finals. The spirit that I and the coaching staff convey to the players is to play to win and solve each match.
In the match against U.17 Yemen, the U.17 Vietnam players understood that the result was the core and most important factor. They clearly understood that with the competitive context in the group, U.17 Vietnam had to maintain the current score. The players performed, adjusted and achieved the desired score to participate in the final round.
A very specific example is in the 2025 U.20 Asian qualifiers, U.20 Vietnam was older and more experienced, but the players did not understand the importance of the result in the match with U.20 Syria (just a draw would be enough to advance), so they could not control and adjust the progress of the match.
However, the U.17 Vietnam players, although only 15, 16 years old, have done that. I congratulate the players when they are aware of the importance of the result to adjust the way they play. They are very smart and know how to control the situation. That is what the players have done.
I always hope that U.17 Vietnam will play matches at a higher level. We have a ticket to the 2025 Asian finals to compete with stronger teams, and have the opportunity to participate in the U.17 World Cup.
- U.17 Vietnam won against Japan and Uzbekistan in the friendly matches, but when playing in real matches, they revealed many weaknesses. Did the psychological pressure in the official tournament weigh heavily on your students?
The friendly matches against Japan and Uzbekistan cannot be compared with the matches in the U.17 Asian qualifiers. Because in the friendly matches in China, the opponents of U.17 Vietnam such as U.17 Japan and U.17 Uzbekistan entered the field with the goal of winning. They pushed up their formation to put pressure and continuously attacked, creating great pressure. The U.17 Vietnam players took advantage of the gaps that their opponents left behind their defense to exploit. The quick counterattacks brought goals and victory to U.17 Vietnam.
In the matches against U.17 Kyrgyzstan or U.17 Myanmar, it was very different. The opponents actively defended, keeping their formation low. This required U.17 Vietnam to know how to control the match, create space, "lure" or deceive the opponent to achieve the goal. The players did everything required. Or as I just analyzed, in the match against U.17 Yemen, U.17 Vietnam knew how to keep the score 1-1 in the second half.
At the youth level, the coaching staff always prepares the best response skills for the players, so that they can cope with many types of play, from proactive attack to defensive counter-attack. I think that U.17 Vietnam has responded to the tactics.
However, I still think that U.17 Vietnam needs to play more to get used to the pressure and adapt to the situation. Each match is a challenge, a different context, no match is the same. Therefore, the more experience, the more solid and mature the players become.
U.17 Vietnam needs more experience
- U.17 Vietnam has reached the final round of the 2025 AFC U.17 Championship. The door to the World Cup is also wider open, with 8 slots for Asian teams, meaning that passing the group stage means getting a ticket to the World Cup. Can we dream?
For me, the first goal is to be present in the final round, which U.17 Vietnam has done. In the final round, the tournament will gather the strongest U.17 teams in the continent. The challenge for U.17 Vietnam is very difficult, but that does not mean the World Cup goal is impossible or out of reach.
We will prepare the best, try to complete every step as thoroughly as possible, from screening and concentrating forces, training, consolidating playing style, training more offensive and defensive tactics or improving the players' mentality and physical strength. U.17 Vietnam must go through a rigorous preparation period to aim for the U.17 Asian playground. However, the players already understand the goal. That is the core.
- How do you plan to screen the players to call up the team, when the youth tournament will not take place for the next 6 months, and the U.17 Vietnam players come from many different clubs?
The coaching staff must prepare carefully, right from the player selection stage. I have many members in my assistant team. They always coordinate with the coaching staff of other U.17 teams in the country to grasp the player situation. In addition to listening to information and updating the situation from the coaches at the club, we also send people to the place to monitor, observe and evaluate the players. Just like the preparation for the past U.17 Asian qualifiers, the preparation must be ensured to have the best selection, thereby achieving the desired goal.
Young players need more games
- In Portugal, your home country, as well as in other developed footballing countries, how many games do young players get to play each year, and what does constant playing time mean to young players?
For example, in Portugal, each youth team has about 40 official matches per year. Every weekend, the youth 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.
It must be emphasized that VFF has tried to bring youth tournaments, but the reality shows that U.17 Hanoi reached the final, having 16 matches to play was lucky. What about the teams that did not qualify? They only have 8 matches per year. That number is too small for 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 accustomed the player is to pressure, the easier it is to erase the psychological barrier.
Young Vietnamese players have too few matches each year.
- It seems that after the generation of Quang Hai and Van Hau with their resounding success in the period 2018 - 2022, Vietnamese youth football is lacking talent to create the next generation. What is the reason?
The key difference comes from the head coach. The role of a manager in football is very important. They are the leaders, the ones who inspire, create motivation and manage the players both on and off the field. For a team to progress, it is necessary for the players to have faith in the head coach. They need to believe in the coach’s philosophy and follow it, only then will they be successful.
A simple example is the young generation that I am coaching. When I first took charge of the Hanoi U.17 team, these players were a year ago the Hanoi U.15 team that lost to HAGL U.15 in the national tournament. And a year later, we prepared carefully together, outlining a detailed roadmap. After that, Hanoi U.17 defeated HAGL U.17 twice, once in the group stage, once in the final, with the same core players that lost to HAGL that year.
As for U.17 Vietnam, they are still the same players who lost 5-0 to Indonesia in the Southeast Asian tournament, then beat Japan 1-0 in a friendly tournament in China. That is why the role of the coach is so important. They need to convey confidence to the players, with clear and reasonable tactics, so that the players can follow, dare to play, dare to confront and show their strengths.
In addition, in football, there are head coaches who do a very good job, but success does not come. There is always a barrier between effort and results, but it does not change the argument that we need good coaches to improve players and reach success, both in youth football and at the top level.
- Besides good teachers, does Vietnamese youth football lack other basic elements such as sports science, nutrition, psychological and physical training?
Not every team invests fully in the youth training system, from psychologists, medical and nutrition experts or fitness coaches. At the youth system of Hanoi Club, I and the players are lucky to be given the best conditions in all aspects such as nutrition and fitness. Not every team invests thoroughly in youth training.
In European football, young players are taken care of very carefully, not only in terms of professional training but also in other factors, including how to eat, what nutrition is needed to develop muscle groups, serve specific exercises, or how to train physically to develop professional strengths. However, this factor requires a huge investment. To improve youth football, we need investment resources and a comprehensive, overall development plan like that.
Thank you for the chat!
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-roland-giac-mo-world-cup-khong-ngoai-tam-voi-u17-viet-nam-185241107190723897.htm
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