Former V-League foreign player leads Vietnam U16 team to compete in Asian tournament

Coach Cristiano Roland (born in 1976, Brazilian nationality) is no stranger to Vietnamese football. He is known as a former player of Hanoi FC (formerly Hanoi T&T) and is considered to have played a significant role in the capital city team's two V-League championships between 2009 and 2013.

After retiring from playing, Cristiano Roland completed the AFC C coaching course organized by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) in 2014. Subsequently, he continued to hone his skills through UEFA's C, B, and A coaching courses from 2017 to 2023.

Coach Cristiano Roland had a very successful playing career with Hanoi FC (Photo: VFF).

During his studies, Cristiano Roland was entrusted with or in charge of training young players from U9 to U19 at clubs in Portugal and Luxembourg.

In Vietnam, the former Hanoi FC player previously served as assistant coach of Binh Duong FC in 2021, head coach of Hanoi U15 team in 2023, and most recently led Hanoi U17 to victory in the 2024 National U17 Championship - Thai Son Nam Cup.

In addition, prior to being appointed head coach of the Vietnam U16 team, Cristiano Roland also served on the coaching staff of the Vietnam U16 team during the first training camp of 2024.

In preparation for the 2025 U17 Asian Championship qualifiers, coach Cristiano Roland announced the Vietnam U16 squad of 28 players, half of whom were part of the 2024 Southeast Asian U16 Championship.

The remaining players all showed convincing form at the 2024 National U17 Championship, including notable additions such as Nguyen Van Thang Long - the best goalkeeper, and the top two goal scorers Dang Cong Anh Kiet and Tran Hong Kien.

Vietnam U16 team confidently heads towards the Asian tournament held on home soil (Photo: VFF).

The Vietnam U16 team began training at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center on August 1st, in preparation for the Peace Cup 2024 international U16 friendly tournament from August 16-20 in China. Coach Cristiano Roland's team will face China U16, Uzbekistan U16, and Japan U16 in this tournament.

Following this valuable warm-up, the Vietnam U16 team will travel to Japan for training in mid-September to finalize their preparations before competing in the 2025 AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifiers.

In the 2025 AFC U17 Championship qualifiers, Vietnam U16 (then known as Vietnam U17) will host Group I (scheduled to be held at Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho ), and will successively face Kyrgyzstan U17 (October 23), Myanmar U17 (October 25), and Yemen U17 (October 27).

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/cuu-ngoai-binh-v-league-dan-dat-u16-viet-nam-du-giai-chau-a-20240731154539661.htm