Coach Cristiano Roland: 'I am honored to lead the Vietnam U16 Team'
Coach Cristiano Roland expressed his honor to continue to be assigned the responsibility of leading the Vietnam U16 Team, and affirmed his determination to build a team rich in competitive spirit, tactical thinking and courage to conquer the goals ahead.
On the afternoon of May 12, the Vietnam U16 team had a training session at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center to prepare for the CFA Team China 2025 International U16 Tournament, an important playground in the process towards the 2026 Asian U17 qualifiers.
Before the training session, head coach Cristiano Roland shared about the new journey with the young players.
“For me, when I play football, I always have to live with pressure,” the Brazilian strategist affirmed. “I feel more strength and motivation to contribute. I am proud to lead a new generation of Vietnamese football players.”
According to Mr. Roland, the most important thing in the early stages of working with a young team is to instill a competitive spirit and tactical thinking. “Results are what everyone wants, but more importantly, creating a style of play and identity. This requires time and patience.”
Evaluating the current generation of players, the head coach said that this is a new team, although some players born in 2009 have been called up before. He emphasized that he will continue to work with dedication, seriousness and especially to instill confidence in the players. “We don’t have much time, so all assessments must be both quick and effective.”
Right from the first training session, U16 Vietnam left many positive signals. The players showed serious spirit, ability to integrate and high effort. Coach Roland especially emphasized the spirit and belief that the coaching staff needs to convey so that the players can develop their full potential.
According to the plan, the Vietnam U16 team will maintain daily training in Hanoi before leaving for Hohhot city (Inner Mongolia, China) on May 23. The CFA Team China 2025 International U16 Tournament will take place from May 28 to June 1, 2025, bringing together strong opponents such as U16 Australia, U16 Saudi Arabia and host China.
This is considered a quality training session for Vietnam U16 to accumulate international competition experience, at the same time, develop expertise to best prepare for the 2026 Asian U17 qualifiers, the next big goal on the development journey of Vietnamese youth football./.
