Coach Diego Giustozzi talks about Vietnam futsal's March gathering

The Vietnam futsal team has officially begun a training session in Ho Chi Minh City to prepare for a series of international friendly matches taking place next April. This is part of the team's plan towards the 2026 Asian Futsal Qualifiers and the 33rd SEA Games.

Speaking about this gathering, Coach Diego Giustozzi emphasized: “This gathering creates an opportunity for young players to integrate and gain international competition experience. The results at the recent Southeast Asian Futsal Tournament were very positive, hopefully this will be a springboard for the new players.”

He also added about Minh Tri's return after recovering from injury: "Minh Tri is an important pillar, his return is a good sign. Duc Tung will also have the opportunity to practice with me for the first time, to prepare well for the upcoming major tournaments."

The Argentine coach emphasized the importance of this year's tournaments and set goals for each tournament: "I know that fans have high expectations for the team, not only at the SEA Games but also in all the tournaments we participate in. In the recent Southeast Asian final, despite having only 8-9 healthy players, the whole team still showed strong determination to create an equal match with Indonesia.

“Currently, I am focusing on one tournament at a time, first of all the Asian qualifiers. If I get good results from the Asian qualifiers, the SEA Games will be my next target. I always aspire to win any tournament.”

In this gathering, the team recorded the return of pivo Nguyen Minh Tri, after a long period of injury treatment, along with pivo Vu Duc Tung, a player who has been absent since the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup. In particular, the team also welcomed four new faces called up for the first time: An Lam Toi, Tran Quang Nguyen, Trinh Cong Dai and Do Van Thanh, creating opportunities for them to demonstrate their abilities on the field.

In addition, the team still maintains the presence of veteran players such as the trio of Golden Balls of Vietnam futsal 2024 Nguyen Thinh Phat, Nguyen Manh Dung and Pham Van Tu, along with goalkeeper Ho Van Y and many other players, all of whom are experienced faces who continue to receive the trust of head coach Diego Giustozzi.

In April, the Vietnamese futsal team will have four quality friendly matches, with two matches against Saudi Arabia on April 8 and April 10, followed by two matches against Kazakhstan on April 13 and April 15. Notably, Kazakhstan is also the team that reached the quarter-finals of the 2024 Futsal World Cup, after shockingly defeating Portugal.

Speaking about the two upcoming friendly opponents, coach Diego Giustozzi said: “Saudi Arabia has similar abilities to us and is making clear progress. I also want the team to approach many strong teams like Paraguay and Argentina in the future.”

This training program allows Mr. Giustozzi to get the best assessment for the Vietnamese futsal team towards the goals set in the Asian Qualifiers and SEA Games in 2025.