Vietnamese-Dutch player bids farewell to Vietnam U17 team.
The Vietnam U17 team bids farewell to four players, notably Thomas Mai Veeren - a Vietnamese-Dutch midfielder.
On the afternoon of March 13th, the Vietnam U17 team continued their training at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center. Before the training session, coach Cristiano Roland announced the shortened list of the Vietnam U17 team ahead of the 2025 AFC U17 Championship Finals. Among the four players dropped, notably, was Thomas Mai Veeren - a Vietnamese-Dutch midfielder.
Four players had to say goodbye to the national team: goalkeeper Ly Xuan Hoa (PVF Center), Tran Hoang Viet (Hanoi), Nguyen Van Phuc (Hong Linh Ha Tinh), and especially Thomas Mai Veeren (HV Quick).
The Vietnam U17 coaching staff considers Thomas Mai Veeren a promising player with good ball-handling skills and flexible tactical thinking. However, he needs more time to adapt to the Vietnamese football environment.
One of the biggest obstacles for Vietnamese players of overseas origin when returning to play in their home country is the language barrier. Not being fluent in Vietnamese caused Thomas Mai Veeren many difficulties in communicating and conveying ideas to his teammates.
Currently, the Vietnam U17 team continues training in Hanoi before departing for Oman on March 23rd. There, the team will play two friendly matches against the Oman U17 team, considered the final preparation before officially entering the 2025 AFC U17 Championship finals.
