VietNamNet Bridge – On September 5, Brazilian football club Santos sent the list of players who will participate in the friendly game against U23 Vietnam team on September 29 to the HCM City Football Federation. Initially the club promised to bring the most powerful force to Vietnam.

Striker Gabriel Barbosa is the most significant name on the list.

According to the list, only six players in the main team of Santos will come to Vietnam and most of them are substitute players, such as No. 3 goalkeeper Gabriel Gaparotto, defenders Wesley Douglas and Emerson Palmieri, midfielder Pedro Castro and strikers Gabriel Barbosa and Victor Andrade.

The remaining 17 players are young players.

An official from the HCM City Football Federation said: "In late September and early October, Santos FC will be busy playing in the Brazilian national championships so they cannot send their best players to Vietnam."

U23 Galatasaray of Turkey has not sent the list of players to Vietnam. The game between U23 Vietnam and U23 Galatasaray will take place on September 27, at Thong Nhat Stadium, HCM City.

This year, the HCM City Football Cup will not be held in the form of competition for the trophy. Instead, the HCM City Football Federation decided to invite two foreign FCs to play friendlies with the U23 Vietnam team, including Santos and U23 Galatasaray.

Santos is a well-known South American team and the top FC of Brazil. In the previous seasons, the club owned football prodigy Neymar before he moved to Barcelona FC in early July 2013. Without Neymar, Santos still has many top stars.

In preparation for the 27th SEA Games, U23 Vietnam will have a training course in Hungary in early September and play friendly against U23 Myanmar in October. The team will also attend the Binh Duong-BTV Cup before leaving to Myanmar for the SEA Games.

Nam Nguyen