Head coach of U19 Vietnam explains the reason for calling only 1 SLNA player

Coach Phillippe Troussier explains the training list

As part of the preparation plan for the 2020 AFC U19 Championship, the Vietnam U19 team gathered again on August 20. This is the third gathering of the Vietnam U19 team this year and 36 players have been called up.

Immediately after the Realtime RT-PCR test for the members of the Vietnam U19 team, with all results negative for SARS-CoV-2, the Vietnam U19 players started training. Up to 8 Song Lam Nghe An players were named in the second Vietnam U19 team training session at the end of June.

However, this time, the list of 36 players for the third training session does not have a single name wearing the Nghe An team's shirt, more precisely, there is only 1 but currently wearing the PVF shirt, Tran Manh Quynh.

Midfielder Tran Manh Quynh (7) in the U19 Vietnam jersey. Photo: FBNV

Regarding the limited number of SLNA players who will attend the training session, Coach P. Troussier explained: “In the list I selected from the National U19 and U17 tournaments. I selected 100 players. In the previous training session, I selected 8 SLNA players and divided them into 2 groups. The first group were players who did not pass the qualifying round. The second group were players from the team participating in the final round.

The selection process is different. This time, I did not call SLNA players because I wanted to create conditions for new players. If I did not call SLNA players or players from other teams, I would consider them unsuitable. But that does not mean you do not have the opportunity to participate in the next campaign, preparing for the 2026 World Cup, for example.

I want to explain a little more specifically, because of the U19 National Tournament with the Qualifiers and the Finals, my way of calling people is according to the tournament regulations. For example, Hanoi and Viettel are two strong teams but were eliminated. But I think these two teams contributed 40% of the force participating in the team.

Coach Phillippe Troussier spoke to the media about U19 Vietnam on the morning of August 23. Photo: Huu Thanh

In the second round, SLNA entered the finals, so I chose the players to enter the finals, including SLNA. But in this round, when I had to reduce the number of players, I decided on a different personnel. Another reason for the criteria for choosing players is to look at individual abilities and integration into the general team style before determining which club the player is from. For me, the national team is a diverse team, and building a team is considered strong.

I emphasize this case, although there is a player named Tran Manh Quynh under SLNA management, he is actually on loan from PVF. Therefore, in the force, there is no SLNA player under direct management. For me, there is no Quynh player under PVF or SLNA. I call him because of his ability only."

Coach Phillippe Troussier and his relationship with Coach Park Hang-seo

Regarding the relationship with Coach Park, Mr. Troussier said:“If you look at the training age of Coach Park's U22 Vietnam team and my U19 Vietnam team, in terms of age, you can see that out of the total number of players on both teams, there are about 70-80 players, of which I believe 80% will be the core of Vietnam participating in the 2026 World Cup Qualifying campaign.

I know Mr. Park and the members of the national team's coaching staff. We have discussed professional matters and have respect for each other. I personally feel very happy when working and exchanging with Mr. Park. I have discussed the friendly matches with U22 Vietnam and U19 Vietnam, but unfortunately U22 Vietnam has its own plans.

Mr. Park and I have different responsibilities, but we both have the same goal of making Vietnamese football develop more, towards the 2026 World Cup."

Song Lam Nghe An contributes 8 players to Vietnam U19 team

(Baonghean.vn) – After the SLNA U19 team won the right to enter the semi-finals of the 2020 National U19 Tournament, coach Philippe Troussier announced the list of the Vietnam U19 team for the second training session of 2020. Of which, Song Lam Nghe An has 8 players participating.