Farewell to Coach Tran Minh Chien, unexpected foreign candidate appears

Vietnam U.16 team in the match against Indonesia U.16 team

The U.17 Vietnam team came away empty-handed at the U.17 Southeast Asian tournament after losing 0-5 to the host team Indonesia in the bronze medal match. Previously, coach Tran Minh Chien and his team finished first in Group B but lost to U.17 Thailand in the semi-finals.

At the end of the tournament, Coach Tran Minh Chien sat down with VFF, and both sides agreed to stop working together. At the same time, the former striker of the Vietnam national team also said goodbye to Kon Tum Club - where he was attached to the title of Technical Director and went to the promotion play-off.

Coach Tran Minh Chien shared with Thanh Nien Newspaper: “At the moment, I don’t have any specific plans. After saying goodbye to the Vietnam U.16 team and Kon Tum Club, I prioritize spending time with my family. Maybe in the near future, I will take my wife and children on a trip during the summer vacation.”

While coach Tran Minh Chien is “recharging” his energy and inspiration with his family, the VFF is urgently looking for someone to take over the Vietnam U.17 team, preparing for the qualifying round of the U.17 Asian Cup which will take place next October.

Coach Tran Minh Chien says goodbye to Vietnam U.16 team and Kon Tum Club

It is known that in its list of replacement candidates, VFF mentioned a few quality and suitable names, unfortunately they have other plans and have not reached a final agreement.

In particular, there is a heavyweight name from Brazil, Cristiano Roland, former captain and considered one of the symbols of Hanoi Club, who is leading the youth team of the capital team.

The big advantage of the former central defender who played for FCV Vasco da Gama, Gremio and Benfica is his understanding of Vietnamese football culture, thanks to his time playing for FC Hanoi in the V-League from 2008 to 2013.

An even bigger plus for the coach nicknamed Cris is that he is directly leading the Hanoi U.17 team to compete in the national U.17 tournament taking place in Ba Ria City (Ba Ria - Vung Tau province), and has reached the quarterfinals.

Coach Cristiano Roland is considered suitable for the Vietnam U.17 team.

According to the VFF's professional consulting report, Coach Cris is applying a fairly flexible playing style for the Hanoi U.17 team, with a smooth rotation between the 4-1-4-1 and 3-4-3 formations that focus on ball control.

According to the assessment, if an agreement is reached with Hanoi Club, the possibility of coach Cristiano Roland leading the Vietnam U.17 team is very high, as he has a very clear grasp of the form and level of the prominent faces in the national U.17 tournament.

VFF itself is also in dire need of finalizing this captain position soon, preparing for the 2025 AFC U-17 qualifiers, where Vietnam will host Group I with opponents Kyrgyzstan (on October 23), Myanmar (October 25) and Yemen (October 27).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u17-viet-nam-chia-tay-hlv-tran-minh-chien-xuat-hien-ung-vien-ngoai-bat-ngo-185240716122158049.htm