Lame youth tournament for Vietnamese players

Contradiction of quantity and quality

"The Vietnam Football Federation has tried to bring youth tournaments. But in reality, even for a finalist team like Hanoi U17, the fact that the players have 16 matches to play is a lucky thing," coach Cristiano Roland of Vietnam U17 shared his heart to the media, after the commendable and regrettable journey that the home team went through at the 2025 AFC U17 Championship. "What about the teams that do not qualify? They only have 8 matches per year. That number is too small for the players to get used to the pressure of competition."

Some young U17 Vietnam players are playing in the Second Division, First Division and V.League.

This is not a new issue, as the story of young Vietnamese players having few opportunities to play in recent years has been mentioned quite a lot in the media and social networks. Does the Vietnam Football Federation accept the feedback from the press? Certainly. Because if not, the National U17, U19 and U21 tournament system cannot increase the number of matches as it is now.

Specifically, the National U17 tournament has a total of 16 matches, including 10 qualifying rounds and 6 final round matches. The number is similar to the National U19 tournament. Meanwhile, the National U21 tournament also reached 11 matches, including 6 qualifying rounds and 5 final round matches.

In addition, Vietnamese U17 players in particular and Vietnamese teenage football talents in general can be tested in the Third Division, Second Division, First Division or even V.League. Most recently, Hoang Trong Duy Khang - the most outstanding player in the Vietnamese U17 team with 2 goals in the U17 Asian Cup was selected by PVF to participate in the Second Division.

Or Gia Bao, the remaining player who scored for U17 Vietnam against U17 Japan, also received a promise from the coaching staff of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club. Accordingly, Technical Director Vu Tien Thanh of the mountain town team affirmed that Bao will play more when the team enters the safe zone of V.League 2024/25. In addition, Hong Quang - a central defender who played outstandingly at the U17 Asian Cup will also be registered on the first team of Ba Ria - Vung Tau in the National First Division.

Previously, Duc Duy, Hong Phong, Viet Long, and Thien Phu were also registered by Coach Pham Minh Duc in the Hanoi Youth list to participate in the National Second Division tournament. However, pink did not come to everyone.

Competition from youth league

As for the U17 Vietnam team competing in the U17 Asian Cup, not everyone is as smooth as Duy Khang, Gia Bao, Thien Phu or Hong Quang... For example, Duy Dang, Duc Nhat, Van Bach or even captain Viet Anh can only temporarily focus on U17 PVF. Because they are too old, these 4 players can only practice to maintain, instead of aiming for the National U17 tournament which starts in the middle of the year. The only name that can participate in this tournament is Van Duong. The player born in 2009 is eligible to join U16 PVF to prepare for the international friendly tournament as well as the National U17 2025.

The story is similar for many players in other teams. These include goalkeepers Hoa Xuan Tin, Nguyen Van Thang Long, Bach Trong Duong, Le Tan Dung, etc. The most likely front for the majority of players in the Vietnam U17 team or more broadly the "2008-2009 generation" is the National U19 Finals. However, according to the competition schedule, this tournament will only start at the end of the year. This means that the players will be "sitting around doing nothing" for several months, while the national youth team gatherings have not yet taken shape.

This is the problem of Vietnamese youth football at this stage. In theory, the national youth league system plus the second and third divisions allow players aged 16-19 to play up to 50 matches. But in reality, as coach Roland shared, not every player is capable of playing all of the above tournaments. The uneven distribution of match funds occurs right from the youth level. There are cases where players are allowed to play continuously to develop. But at the same time, many faces have not yet had time to reveal their talents because the number of matches they participate in is too small.

The tournament density is also not evenly distributed. For example, in 2024, the National U19 tournament will be concentrated in the first 2 months of the year. The National U17 tournament will be divided into 2 stages. The qualifying round takes place from mid-March to early April, before the final round starts in about 10 days in July. The National U21 tournament is usually held from the qualifying round to the final round from mid-July to mid-August. Meanwhile, the Third Division tournament is held from late October to the end of December. Thus, if the national U16 and U19 teams are not concentrated, the 16-17 year old players will practice alone for about 5-6 months of the year. For example, May, June, September!

"If they don't play regularly, young players won't get used to the rhythm of preparing for a match, and may be overwhelmed by the pressure, not used to singing the national anthem or having fans come to the stadium to watch. The more familiar the players are with the pressure, the easier it is to erase the psychological barrier," Coach Roland shared, when even in his squad, the difference in playing experience has begun to happen even when players are only 16 or 17 years old.

It is agreed that based on ability, players will have certain levels to create their own career path. However, right from the "nursery" tournament, players are not guaranteed a sufficiently rich match fund, which will lead to them losing the opportunity to prove themselves. In many cases, their talent can only be developed when they are 23 or 24 years old. Even Doan Ngoc Tan only really shined at the age of 32! Obviously, if Vietnamese football does not build a youth tournament system with a minimum frequency of 25-26 matches/year for teenage players, it is entirely possible that we will miss out on talent!

Learning from Indonesia

It is no coincidence that U17 Indonesia has participated in the World Cup for the second time. The youth football system in Indonesia is something that Vietnam should learn from. Indonesian youth football has 3 tournaments that coexist to ensure that players always play 30-35 matches per year. If the Soeratin Cup has the same value as the Phu Dong Sports Festival in Vietnam, the Indonesian National U17 Tournament has a development method similar to the National U17 Tournament in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Elite Pro Academy plays a revolutionary role in the development of youth football in Indonesia in particular and in Southeast Asia in general. Realizing the potential to participate in the world tournament at the U17 and U20 levels, starting in 2018, the idea of ​​building a youth tournament specifically for Indonesian players aged 13-19 has come true. This tournament is organized in a season format, applying VAR to important matches.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/khap-khieng-giai-tre-cho-cau-thu-viet-nam-i765500/