At this year's finals, 16 teams are divided into 4 groups. U.17 Vietnam is in group D, with the participation of U.17 India, Japan and Uzbekistan. The teams compete in a round-robin format to calculate rankings. The first and second teams in each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. The 4 winning teams in the quarter-finals will advance to the semi-finals, and also qualify for the 2023 FIFA U.17 World Cup.

Vietnam U.17 players relax in the swimming pool of Rama Gardens Bangkok hotel. Photo: VFF

Currently, the weather in Bangkok (Thailand) is quite similar to the training location of coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team during the preparation for the tournament in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, so the players quickly adapted when coming to the land of golden temples. On the first day in Bangkok (June 14), staying at the Rama Gardens Bangkok Hotel, to help the players feel comfortable, coach Hoang Anh Tuan let the whole team work out at the gym and relax in the hotel swimming pool. The coaching staff reminded the young players not to turn on the air conditioner too cold in the room, to eat carefully to ensure their health for the opening match in the group stage against U.17 India tonight (June 17); then face U.17 Japan (June 20) and U.17 Uzbekistan (June 23).

According to statistics from the Asian Football Confederation, U.17 Vietnam is one of 10 teams that have won tickets to the 2023 AFC U-17 Championship with an unbeaten record, along with U.17 Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Australia, Tajikistan, Iran and Uzbekistan. Hoang Cong Hau, Nguyen Thien Phu and his teammates even passed the qualifying round without conceding a goal when they won 4-0 against U.17 Taipei (China), 5-0 against U.17 Nepal and 3-0 against U.17 Thailand.

During the short training session in Qatar to prepare for the 2023 AFC U-17 Championship, Vietnam U-17 played 2 friendly matches, drawing 0-0 with Laos U-17 and beating host Qatar U-17 2-0. During the training session in Japan, Vietnam U-17 played 3 friendly matches, beating Kaisenkan High School 3-1, beating Honda FC U-18 3-1 and drawing 3-3 with Tokoha University.

Among the 24 U.17 Vietnam players going to Thailand, there are 4 players from Viettel , including defender Dang Thanh Binh, Nguyen Hoang Nam; midfielder Nguyen Cong Phuong and striker Hoang Cong Hau. Notably, Nguyen Cong Phuong is the captain of U.17 Vietnam. In the qualifying round, it was not until the match against U.17 Nepal that Nguyen Cong Phuong scored. After that, this young midfielder also had a beautiful goal against U.17 Thailand, opening a 3-0 victory for the home team. At this U.17 Asian Cup, Nguyen Cong Phuong is the most important player of coach Hoang Anh Tuan.

NGUYEN CONG