Vietnam U17 striker aims to score in all matches at the Asian U17 Qualifiers

On the afternoon of September 19, the Vietnam U17 team continued to practice at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center to prepare for the 2025 AFC U17 Qualifiers. Coach Cristiano Roland and his team are striving to improve every day. The whole team is aiming for the common goal of achieving the best results and each individual player also sets their own goals.

Speaking to the press before the start of the training session, striker Nguyen Van Bach said: “I feel more mature after each match of the team. But the whole team and I still need to try harder in the next matches. We need to learn lessons to have good preparation for the upcoming 2025 AFC U17 Qualifiers.”

Van Bach is one of the players who made a strong impression in the U16 Vietnam team's lineup at the recent U16 Peace Cup 2024 international friendly tournament in China. Bach was the player who raised the score to 2-0 in the U16 Vietnam team's 3-0 victory over U16 Uzbekistan and was the author of the only goal that helped the U16 Vietnam team defeat U16 Japan with a score of 1-0. "The most important factor in the lineup is team spirit and solidarity, not for any individual," Van Bach shared about the secret to helping U16 Vietnam compete successfully against stronger opponents.

The striker from PVF Youth Football Training Center also expressed his respect for head coach Cristiano Roland: “Coach Cristiano always inspires and motivates the team to play better. Before each match, the team holds a tactical meeting and when we go onto the field, we always follow the tactics and follow the coach's instructions,” said Van Bach.

When asked about the team's preparation and his personal goals for the 2025 AFC U17 Qualifiers, Van Bach said: "We still have a training session in Japan and will have friendly matches there to test and find the strongest lineup.

I try to first get my name on the list of players, then I will try to achieve the goal of scoring goals in each match to help the team win. My strengths are speed and the ability to seize opportunities in counter-attack situations."

According to the plan, the Vietnam U17 team will train at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center until September 29, 2024, then go to Japan for training and competition from September 30 to October 9, 2024. On October 10, the Vietnam U17 team will return home to complete the final preparations before participating in the 2025 AFC U17 Qualifiers.

In order to create more favorable conditions for the Vietnam U17 team to compete for a ticket to the continental finals and gain the trust of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), VFF has decided to host the U17 team's group in the 2025 AFC U17 Qualifiers.

Specifically, the Vietnam U17 team will play the role of host of Group I, taking place at Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho from October 23 to October 27, 2024. Coach Roland Cristiano and his team will welcome U17 Kyrgyzstan (October 23), U17 Myanmar (October 25) and U17 Yemen (October 27).