Returning to Vietnam after his short holiday in the Republic of Korea, national team and U23 team head coach Park Hang-seo immediately took the first steps to prepare for Vietnam’s important football events in 2019.

Coach Park Hang-seo (centre) discusses selecting players for the Vietnam U23 team with VFF representatives and coach Hoang Anh Tuan (far left) on February 20. (Photo: VFF)

On Wednesday morning, Park had a meeting with the leaders and professional departments of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to plan the selection of the squad for the U23 team, preparing to attend the qualifying round of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship.

The meeting also saw the attendance and contribution of Hoang Anh Tuan, coach of the Vietnam U19 team, who is the first strategist in Vietnam to set the feat of leading Vietnam U19 to qualify for the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup.

The U23 squad to be called up for the 2020 AFC U23 Championship qualification and towards the 2019 Southeast Asian Games are mainly players under the management of Tuan, including the outstanding names favoured by Park, such as Nguyen Quang Hai, Tran Dinh Trong, Doan Van Hau, Ha Duc Chinh and Nguyen Tien Linh.

There are still other young players who have not had the opportunity to be called up and coach Tuan is the most knowledgeable about their strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, Park invited Tuan to join the meeting to help him make a more accurate decision about the list of the U23 squad to be summoned soon.

Previously, Tuan also advised his Korean colleague on a list of up to 60 players born in 1997 to 2000, including all necessary professional parametres. On that basis, Park shortened the list to about 30 names to continue exchanging with Tuan.

As planned, Vietnam U23 team will meet up in mid-March to prepare for the 2020 AFC U23 Championship qualification. The goal of Park’s side is to win tickets to the finals of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship and compete for a berth at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

Early next week, the VFF leaders and the National Coach Council will meet with representatives of the teams’ coaching staff on the operation of the national teams in 2019.

VFF Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan said that the association will continue to facilitate and focus investment to help the teams have the best preparation before attending key events this year, especially the qualification of AFC U16, U19 and U23 Championships, as well as the World Cup 2022 qualifiers and the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

VFF will also have more specific discussions with coach Park on the most reasonable preparation plans to suit the national squad and U23 team.

Nhan Dan