U21 SLNA's mainstay surprised to be called up to the Vietnam national team

Ho Van Cuong and Nguyen Van Viet are two young players playing in the 2023 National U21. These are both players from SLNA who will participate in the National U21 final against U21 PVF-CAND.

Van Viet (red) is the captain and safe stopper bringing U21 SLNA to the 2023 National U21 final taking place tomorrow, October 1.

Although he is currently playing for the national U21 team, Ho Van Cuong has had an outstanding year playing for the youth teams of the Vietnam national team and was recently called up to the national team to prepare for FIFA Days in October.

Sharing about this surprise, Ho Van Cuong expressed: "I was quite surprised to know that I was called up to the Vietnam national team by Coach Troussier in the upcoming training session, because I am still quite young compared to my teammates. Surely, in this training session, I will learn a lot and gain more experience when playing side by side with my seniors in the national team. This is a great joy and also a motivation for me to try my best in the coming time."

This also helps Ho Van Cuong complete his previously set goal of being selected to compete in the national team in the near future.

Besides Ho Van Cuong, another young player of SLNA was also given the opportunity by coach Troussier to join the Vietnam national team in the October training session, goalkeeper Nguyen Van Viet.

Ho Van Cuong, although not fully recovered from his injury, still scored two goals in the tournament.

In the 2023 V-League, the goalkeeper born in 2002 is the one who took the starting position from his senior Nguyen Van Hoang (who joined Hanoi Club). In the 2023 U23 Asian qualifiers held in Viet Tri (Phu Tho) recently, Van Viet was the number 1 choice of the French strategist in the two victories against U23 Guam and U23 Yemen.

"I am very happy to be called up to the national team. This is a motivation to strive for the future. Although there are many shortcomings, training and playing with seniors will help me learn many things" - goalkeeper Van Viet said about the first time being called up to the national team.

Besides the two young names of SLNA who were called up for the first time, 14 other young players were awarded the title: Luong Duy Cuong, Phan Tuan Tai, Ho Van Cuong, Vo Minh Trong in defense; Khuat Van Khang, Hoang Van Toan, Giap Tuan Duong, Le Van Do, Nguyen Duc Phu, Nguyen Thai Son, Nguyen Dinh Bac in midfield; Nguyen Van Tung, Bui Vi Hao, Nguyen Thanh Nhan in forwards.

These young talents will combine with seniors such as Que Ngoc Hai, Quang Hai, Tien Linh, goalkeeper Van Lam, .... from October 2 at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center.

The upcoming FIFA Days in October is an important training session for the Vietnamese team towards the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia. The Vietnamese team will have 3 friendly matches with strong opponents in the region such as China (October 10), Uzbekistan (October 13) and South Korea (October 17).

Source: https://nld.com.vn/the-thao/tru-cot-cua-u21-slna-bat-ngo-khi-duoc-len-tuyen-viet-nam-20230930134443267.htm