The newly-appointed Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Kunio Umeda has pledged to spare no effort to contribute to the development of football of the two countries.

Players of the Vietnamese U19 team. 

He made the statement during his meeting with the Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Tran Quoc Tuan in Hanoi on December 26. 

Umeda, who is also advisor to the Japanese Football Association, hailed the recent achievements of Vietnam’s football, as its futsal team and U19 team qualified for the World Cups for the first time.

For his part, Vice Chairman Tuan lauded the cooperation between VFF and the JFA in recent years, especially the comprehensive football cooperation agreement signed by leaders of the two organisations in July 2014.

Under the agreement, the VFF and JFA have focused on important areas including cooperation at international and regional football forums and exchange of footballers, and help for training programmes and competitions for national teams. 

He also expressed his hope that Ambassador Umeda will make contribution to cooperation in football between the two countries.

VNA