The Vietnamese Olympic team has begun to ease the training intensity.

After a period of intense training, coach Toshiya Miura is gradually reducing the training load for the Vietnamese Olympic players in preparation for the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers.

The players' morale remains relatively stable, despite public doubts about the team's chances of success. Photo: Duc Dong.

After losing 1-3 to the Thai Olympic team in a friendly match in Bangkok, Coach Miura and his team traveled to Malaysia yesterday, March 23rd. In Kuala Lumpur, the team was accommodated at the Blue Wave Hotel in Selangor. This is the same hotel where the Vietnamese U19 team, including players like Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Van Toan, and Van Son, stayed in 2013 and achieved success, qualifying for the 2014 AFC U19 Championship finals.

While in 2013 the U19 players had a chef serving authentic Vietnamese meals at the hotel, this time the Olympic team did not have the same. They had to eat food cooked by a restaurant with dishes in the Malaysian culinary style. However, the players still enjoyed the meal. "The food was plentiful and delicious, we all ate a lot," midfielder Ho Ngoc Thang shared with VnExpress.

Despite the good living conditions, the players faced initial difficulties in their training. Yesterday, upon arriving in Malaysia, the players took to the training field at 7 PM (local time) in inadequate lighting conditions due to a lack of lamps.

Cong Phuong (left) and many of his U19 teammates return to familiar surroundings. Photo: Duc Dong.

Learning from past mistakes, Coach Miura took his players out to practice this morning. During this session, the Japanese coach mainly focused on simple attacking drills and stretching exercises. The atmosphere was cheerful as the team transitioned from heavy workloads to achieve optimal agility and a relaxed mindset for the tournament.

Several players with minor injuries, such as Duy Manh and Minh Long, have been given supplementary exercises to help them recover faster.

Tomorrow, March 25th, the team will continue training in the morning at 10:00 AM (local time, 9:00 AM Hanoi time).

According to the organizing committee, the technical meeting of the four teams participating in Group I of the U23 Asian Championship qualifiers will take place at 2:30 PM on March 26th at the Blue Wave Hotel. On the same day, the teams will familiarize themselves with the Shah Alam Stadium, the venue for the qualifying matches.

Tickets for the Group I qualifying matches are being sold online by the Football Association of Malaysia. Additionally, the organizers will sell tickets directly at the stadium at 10:00 AM on match days. The ticket price is 20 ringgit (approximately 150,000 VND).

In Group I of the qualifying round, the Vietnamese Olympic team will face host nation Malaysia on March 27th, Macau on March 29th, and Japan on March 31st. The team's goal is to qualify for the finals next year – where the top three teams will advance to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

According to VNE