VietNamNet Bridge – Children from 32 provinces have been put through their paces trying to qualify for a seven-year professional football programme run by the Promotion Fund of Vietnamese Football Talents (PVF) in HCM City.

Future stars: Coach Tran Minh Chien (right) instructs his players during a training session in HCM City. The Promotion Fund of Vietnamese football talents (PVF) is the third professional training football centre in Viet Nam. — Photo in courtesy of PVF

Those 100 boys will then battle it out over a three-month training course to try and make the final list of 50, who will earn scholarships for a seven-year course at the HCM City-based centre.

"The centre recruited 89 kids aged between 12 and 14 for the first two courses, which began in 2009. This year, we will enrol 50 elite kids for the third course at the centre," said PVF coach Tran Minh Chien.

"The kids are trained by seven Vietnamese and one Ukrainian coach for four hours after they have finished studying at school," Chien, who is a former national striker, relayed in an e-mail interview.

The first graduates should emerge from the programme in 2016.

"Recruits will train in ideal conditions to help them develop their talent, discipline and strength for when they are older," said coach Nguyen Huu Dang.

Dang said students from the first course showed their prowess by winning the National U-13 Football Championship in their debut last year.

Vo Ngoc Tinh, Pham Van Loc and Tran Hong Quan were voted as players of the championship.

The trio and their teammates, who study at Nguyen Thi Dinh Junior Secondary School, then triumphed at HCM City's Student Sports Games, scoring 89 goals and conceding only two.

Left winger Ho Minh Di, 13, who won the awards for top scorer and best player at the games, emerged as a future star, scoring 21 times.

"Di is still a young boy, but he's very fast and flexible on the flank. He has progressed immensely over the past 15 months. If he trains hard, I think he will become a star," said coach Ha Vuong Ngau Nai.

"All of us come from provinces with different lifestyles and accents, but we are united under one footballing roof," said goalkeeper Tran Hong Quan.

The 14-year-old said he left his home in the northern province of Hai Duong – 1,700km away from HCM City – to fulfil his footballing dream.

"My idols are Bui Tan Truong (national team goalie) and Chelsea's Petr Cech. I want to become a famous goalkeeper like them," he said, adding that painting is his second passion after football.

At present, a 30ha PVF centre with five pitches and gymnasiums is under construction with an investment of VND80 billion (US$3.8 million) in HCM City's District 9.

"A seven-year training course with international standards will allow us to bring through the best young talents for local or regional clubs in the next five years," said PVF's managing director Nguyen Xuan Nam.

Graduates will sign professional contracts with the PVF when they reach 18.

Players will earn 10 per cent of any transfer fees when they sign new contracts, as well as their salaries.

The PVF was the third professional football centre to open in Viet Nam along with the French-style Scavi Rocheteau in HCM City and the Arsenal-Hoang Anh Gia Lai-JMG Academy in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

V-League club Song Lam Nghe An also plan to open a football academy with the assistance of the English Premier League's Liverpool FC next year.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News