Brazilian coach writes emotional letter, revealing the reason why Vietnam youth team won consecutively against Uzbekistan and Japan in China

On the evening of August 20, U16 Vietnam defeated U16 Japan 1-0 at the 2024 Peace Cup International U16 tournament thanks to Nguyen Van Bach's goal in the 16th minute. With 6 points after a 3-0 victory over U16 Uzbekistan and 1-0 victory over U16 Japan, the U16 Vietnam team finished the 2024 Peace Cup International U16 tournament in the runner-up position. The championship belonged to U16 China after a 2-1 victory over U16 Uzbekistan in the final match, thereby ranking above U16 Vietnam thanks to the additional index.

After the match, the coach of U16 Vietnam, Mr. Cristiano Roland, wrote a letter on his personal Facebook page: "A spectacular performance by my warrior boys! The first match for us was difficult because the whole team only had 1 day of rest, after 1 day of travel and a short time to adapt to the field. We lost the opening match but we tried our best and achieved what we set out in the plan", coach Cristiano Roland said about the 0-4 loss of U16 Vietnam to U16 China in the opening match of the 2024 Peace Cup International U16 tournament.

Putting aside the defeat against the host, U16 Vietnam then won 3-0 against U16 Uzbekistan in the second match at the Peace Cup 2024. "In the second match, my warrior boys were better rested and adapted to the pitch. We won against a team from a strong football background in Asia," coach Roland wrote.

Coach Cristiano Roland said about the victory over Japan U16: "The third match, I don't know what words to use to describe the attitude of the players. They were fantastic. This is a great victory against another strong team from the leading football power in Asia".

Coach Roland thanked the VFF (Vietnam Football Federation): "First of all, I would like to thank the Vietnam Football Federation - VFF for the invitation to lead the U16 Vietnam team. I have had a spectacular 20 days. They have done everything perfectly to bring the best to the athletes. Thank you to my coaching staff who always do everything to make sure I stay calm and focus only on my players! Thank you to my children and my wife for always being there and supporting me all the time! In 2 days our family will meet again and will have 15 special days in Portugal".

Mr. Cristiano Roland was born in 1976, Brazilian nationality, known as a former player of Hanoi FC and is considered to have made an important contribution to the capital team's two V.League championships in the period 2009-2013. After retiring, Mr. Cristiano Roland invested in his coaching career and soon completed the C/AFC coaching course organized by the Vietnam Football Federation in 2014. After that, Mr. Cristiano Roland continued to improve his expertise through coaching courses with C, B, A certificates of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) from 2017 to 2023.

During his training, Mr. Cristiano Roland was trusted to participate in or be in charge of youth training from U9 to U19 at clubs in Portugal and Luxembourg. In Vietnam, Mr. Cristiano Roland held the position of assistant head coach of Becamex Binh Duong Club in 2021, head coach of Hanoi U15 team in 2023 and most recently led Hanoi U17 to excellently win the championship at the National U17 Championship - Thai Son Nam Cup 2024. In addition, before being appointed as head coach of Vietnam U16 Team, Mr. Cristiano Roland also joined the Coaching Board of Vietnam U16 Team in the first training session of 2024./.