Participating in ASIAD 19 - 2023, the Vietnamese Olympic team is mostly U20 players, so the goal of coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team is to take advantage of the opportunity to help young Vietnamese players gain experience and practice their skills when entering the international arena.
The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) advocates training and selecting excellent players, creating a generation of successors for national teams, aiming to participate in the World Cup. Therefore, tournaments of the ASIAD caliber are a place to help young players develop and improve.
Vietnam Olympic team aims for victory in the opening match. Photo: VFF
In the men's football event of the 19th ASIAD, Vietnam is in the same group with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Mongolia. In terms of level, class and quality of the squad, the two West Asian teams are better than Vietnam and Mongolia. The Iranian Olympic team has many veteran players and only 3 players of the U20 age group. Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Olympic team has been preparing for the tournament for 6 months and has selected a high-quality squad with the goal of competing for the championship.
Ranked 183rd in FIFA, the Mongolian Olympic team is considered the weakest in the group. However, coach Hoang Anh Tuan affirmed that before entering the match, it is impossible to accurately assess the opponent's strength. The strategist from Khanh Hoa advised his students not to be subjective against the Mongolian Olympic team because if they have a good result against this opponent, the chance of the Vietnamese Olympic team entering the round of 16 will be greater.
The 19th ASIAD men's football tournament has 23 participating teams, divided into 6 groups (5 groups of 4 teams and 1 group of 3 teams). The teams compete in a round-robin format to determine rankings. The first and second teams in each group and the 4 third-placed teams with the best group stage results will qualify for the round of 16 (round of 16). Therefore, if they overcome Mongolia, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team could be one of the 4 third-placed teams with the best results.
Most of the Vietnamese Olympic players led by coach Hoang Anh Tuan participated in the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship and the 2024 Asian U23 Championship qualifiers. This generation of players is also part of the plan to build a force towards a place at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The opening match is also an opportunity for Mr. Tuan's team to review their forces and win to create momentum before facing the remaining two strong teams in the group.
After arriving in China, the Vietnam Olympic team practiced physical recovery, held professional meetings and had a training session at the Zhejiang University of Economics and Finance on September 17. Also on September 17, VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan visited and encouraged the Vietnam Olympic team. The regulations of the 19th ASIAD organizing committee only allow a maximum of 8 members to be registered in the coaching staff, so the head coach and assistants have to take on many additional tasks.
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