Former Manchester United star wants to help Vietnam achieve their World Cup dream.

Giggs seemed excited about working in Vietnam. Photo: Duc Dong.

Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are currently in Vietnam at the invitation of the Vietnam Football Federation (PVF). According to the signed contract, Giggs will assume the role of Technical Director, responsible for player training and coach development, and will also participate in building and developing PVF into Vietnam's leading football training center.

Sharing his vision for the future, Giggs said: "For young players, it's important that we see their potential and help them reach it. My colleagues and I will design a long-term plan to develop young players. They need good coaches, proper nutrition and training, and a burning desire to win."

I spent 25 years playing and 2 years working in the management system at Man Utd. I will bring that experience here to create a path that can help young players achieve their aspirations, as well as help PVF achieve its goal - which is to produce players who can contribute to the Vietnamese national team qualifying for the 2030 World Cup. Of course, it's not an easy road. But we must have dreams. I once dreamed of playing for Man Utd and I achieved that. Today, I am here to help you achieve your dreams."

One of the key and initial factors that gave Giggs great confidence in PVF's success was its infrastructure. He emphasized: "I trained at Manchester United's Carrington, and it's one of the world's leading training centers. But after visiting and learning about the facilities at PVF, I found that the infrastructure here is no less impressive than Carrington, and in some aspects even better. I am very excited to be part of this organization with my colleagues, contributing to the training and supervision of young players from a technical, physical, and nutritional perspective... so that the future of Vietnamese football will be truly bright."

Just like during his playing days, after retiring, Scholes continued to work alongside Giggs. Photo: Duc Dong

After retiring, Giggs, along with some former teammates from Man Utd's legendary "1992 Team," invested in the small club Salford City, which also focuses on training young players with the goal of becoming professional footballers.

Sharing his thoughts on his journey into youth football, he said: "I have my own observations, and I think young players need to develop good habits, receive good training, have good nutrition, and set goals to become professional players. Like Paul Scholes and other former players from the Class of 1992, I always want to support young players."

Not everyone who meets the above criteria becomes a professional player. Only a few achieve that initial goal. But those who graduate from these training programs can absolutely work, serve, and contribute to football in various other fields such as sports science, coaching, etc. That is our long-term goal."

When asked about the possibility of becoming a tourism ambassador for Vietnam, Scholes said: "That would be quite a surprise. To become a tourism ambassador, you have to know the place very well. However, all doors are open. If in the future I fall in love with the country, its people, its landmarks, or its food, then who knows, that might be an interesting opportunity. For now, I am very pleased with your hospitality."

Giggs said: "When we were players, our schedule was very rigid. Usually: airport, hotel, playing a match, and then back. We didn't usually have time to travel. But since retiring, we have had more opportunities to do that. And certainly in the near future we will arrange to visit and explore the people and country of Vietnam – a destination that everyone wants to visit."