Coach Hoang Anh Tuan summoned two SLNA players to prepare for the 2024 U23 Asian Cup finals
(Baonghean.vn) - On the afternoon of April 1, coach Hoang Anh Tuan announced the list of 28 players called up to the Vietnam U23 team, preparing to participate in the final round of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship, including 2 players from Song Lam Nghe An club.
In the list of 28 players selected this time, most of them are faces who have accompanied coach Hoang Anh Tuan at the youth team levels, from U17 to U19/U20 as well as most recently, U23 Vietnam won the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship and participated in the 19th Asiad in Hangzhou, China.
This is also a force of young players who have been regularly provided with the opportunity by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to gather and practice in parallel with the national team during FIFA Days from the second half of 2023 until now, including players who have had the honor of wearing the national team jersey to compete in the 2023 Asian Cup Finals and the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in Asia, such as goalkeeper Nguyen Van Viet of Song Lam Nghe An club. Another player from Nghe An, defender Le Nguyen Hoang, has also been called up.
In addition, coach Hoang Anh Tuan also gave a chance to a new face, defender Nguyen Thanh Khai (SHB Da Nang). In addition, VFF also worked with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to add and replace players in the preliminary registration list to help coach Hoang Anh Tuan have more optimal choices in the U23 Vietnam squad.
At the 2024 AFC U23 Championship taking place in Qatar from April 15 to May 3, the Vietnam U23 team is in Group D with Uzbekistan U23, Kuwait U23 and Malaysia U23. According to the schedule, the Vietnam U23 team will play its opening match against Kuwait U23 on April 17. In the next two matches, the Vietnam U23 team will meet Malaysia U23 on April 20 and Uzbekistan U23 on April 23.
In addition to competing for rankings, this U23 Asian Finals is also a tournament to determine Asian representatives to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics. Specifically, the top 3 U23 teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The fourth-placed team (losing in the third-place match) will participate in a play-off match with the African representative to compete for a spot in France to attend the Olympics.
According to the plan, the Vietnam U23 team will gather to practice at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center from April 5, 2024. However, due to the V.League's schedule, coach Hoang Anh Tuan will not be able to have the full squad until April 6.
The team will have 2 days of training at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center before leaving for Qatar on April 8. Here, the team will play a friendly match with the Jordan U23 team on April 10, thereby completing the final preparation step before officially entering the U23 continental arena./.
