Coach Cristiano Roland: "Vietnam U17's level is not inferior to Asian powers"

The journey to win a ticket to the 2025 U17 World Cup of coach Cristiano Roland and his team at the 2025 U17 Asian Championship held in Saudi Arabia ended with regrettable results. U17 Vietnam drew all 3 matches against strong opponents such as U17 Australia, U17 Japan and U17 UAE, saying goodbye to the tournament right from the group stage despite being undefeated.

Immediately after returning to Vietnam, on April 17, the Brazilian head coach of Vietnam U17, Mr. Cristiano Roland, had an exclusive sharing session with Dan Tri reporter about his unforgettable experiences at the above tournament.

Failure will help U17 Vietnam become stronger in the future

Hello Coach Cristiano Roland, thank you very much for accepting this interview. Talking about the journey of the Vietnam U17 team at the recent 2025 AFC U17 Championship, how do you evaluate the spirit and efforts of the players through each match?

- In the recent U17 Asian tournament, the Vietnam U17 team had a thorough preparation process, with the goal of winning a ticket to the 2025 U17 Asian World Cup. Unfortunately, we did not achieve our goal. But looking back on the journey, I think the team has made a lot of progress and it is clearly demonstrated through each match.

We have the right to be proud of what the U17 Vietnam team has tried to show against such strong opponents. This is a very difficult challenge and during the preparation process, we understood that we had to try very hard. However, the failure to qualify for the World Cup also made the coaching staff and the players sad, because they did not achieve the expected goal.

U17 Vietnam was undefeated against strong opponents such as Japan, Australia, UAE but was still unfortunately eliminated. Do you and your students feel regretful for missing the opportunity to win a ticket to the historic World Cup?

- The only regret or sadness here is that we did not achieve the goal of reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament and winning a ticket to the World Cup. After each match, I feel proud of my students, because they showed their mettle against strong opponents, even at the last moments of the match with U17 UAE.

As I said, we were in a very strong group, you could call it the "group of death" but there were times when we were leading the group until near the end of the match.

I am just sad that we did not get the results we expected, but I am still proud of what the boys did. Everyone knows that this group is very strong and the teams have prepared well, even many months earlier than us.

What U17 Vietnam has shown in the tournament shows the great preparation from the Vietnam Football Federation as well as the coaching staff, but other teams have also prepared equally well. Therefore, I think with what we have shown, we have the right to be proud.

Can you share about the preparation process of U17 Vietnam before the Asian tournament, especially can you reveal any secrets to help the players improve their physical strength and compete persistently in all 3 matches?

- As the head coach of the team and with my experience, I especially value building a physical foundation for my students. Before the tournament, I spent a lot of time training the players not only in technical and tactical skills but also in physical foundation.

As I said, our opponents are very strong, both technically and physically, so we have to help our players get into the best physical condition.

Before the tournament, we spend a whole week to train the players to get them in the best physical condition possible. We try to get the players to the best physical condition possible, because of course it is very difficult to get to the perfect level.

All my assistants in the coaching staff as well as the players believe in my philosophy. More importantly, the players' mentality in both training and competition is to try to reach the highest point to have the best preparation. Everyone believes in each other to make this group the most united and strong one possible.

In such difficult matches, players who have confidence in themselves, believe in the team, and have a good mentality can play big matches and achieve the best results. Up to now, I am still very proud of what my students have done and aim to continue to maintain that to be stronger in the future.

Coach Cristiano Roland gave an exclusive interview to Dan Tri newspaper after his journey with U17 Vietnam to attend the 2025 U17 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Quyet Thang).

Obviously, the U17 Vietnam team fell into a very strong group at the recent U17 Asian Cup 2025. So before leaving for the tournament, did you think about the possibility of U17 Vietnam reaching the quarterfinals to win a ticket to the World Cup? Were you surprised when the young players played steadily against top Asian opponents?

- We are talking about a secret. I am a captain so I have to find a way to steer my ship. As a captain I have to always believe in what I am going to do.

Psychology is a very important issue for me. I never let my students see me weak at any moment, even during training.

I always encourage the players, bring them positive things and never let them see negative things. Thanks to that, they always have confidence in our training and coaching process. To do that, it is a process of research and experience.

The fact that the young players can play confidently against top Asian opponents shows that they trust the coaching staff, the philosophy and the style of play that the coaching staff has built. In addition, the players also trust themselves, believe that they can do their best on the field and that has been proven in practice in the matches.

U17 Vietnam lost ticket to World Cup because of "grass surface"

Regarding the final match between U17 Vietnam and U17 UAE, many people said that the cautious defense caused U17 Vietnam to lose the game and let UAE equalize in the last minute. Can you share about the match situation and tactical calculations at that time?

- Speaking of this, I affirm that I and the coaching staff have prepared our players for all times and situations in the matches, especially in set pieces. Not only in the match with U17 UAE but also in the matches with U17 Australia or U17 Japan, there were many set pieces.

In the match against Japan U17, we conceded a goal from a set piece situation, where one of our players slipped.

On this issue, I would like to mention the grass used in Saudi Arabia. It is the type of grass that, in defensive situations, requires us to concentrate to the maximum. Against such strong opponents, we have to concentrate many times more.

The grass in Saudi Arabia is not like the grass in Vietnam, it is very thick and the ball rolls very fast. People watching the matches can see many players slipping and having to slow down. This shows that the players need to adapt well.

To play well on the above-mentioned grass, we have to use a different type of shoe - which is not necessary in Vietnam because Vietnamese football fields do not have that type of grass. This is clearly still a lesson for us.

After two very difficult matches against U17 Australia and U17 Japan, with the advantage of leading U17 UAE for most of the match but then letting the opponent equalize, it is clearly a very regrettable result. But anyway, we cannot forget the tireless efforts of the players before just because of that one goal conceded.

What do you think about the strength of Vietnam U17 compared to Thailand and Indonesia in the recent tournament as well as the level of football in Southeast Asia compared to the continent at the U17 age group?

- To make this comparison, I think the press and media can do better than me. When I led U16 Vietnam and now U17 Vietnam, the team has not had any matches with opponents in Southeast Asia to have the most accurate assessment possible.

However, I know that before I took charge, Vietnam U16 had faced Indonesia U16 and Thailand U16. The result was that both matches were lost, with a very high score. When I took over the team, the team's spirit was at its lowest.

But right after I took over the team, people could make comparisons: in the two matches we played against Japan, we won one match in China and drew one match in Saudi Arabia recently.

People can also have their own opinions when U17 Vietnam drew with U17 Australia and U17 UAE in the U17 Asian Cup. Those are the results that the media can use as reference data when comparing.

I think the result at the recent U17 Asian Championship was not bad, considering we only had one month to prepare and had to fulfill many requirements from the coaching staff. I think this needs to be maintained, along with efforts to strive for better results in the future.

Vietnam U17 currently has many quality players and is ready to succeed their seniors in the future (Photo: AFC).

After the tournament in Saudi Arabia, which players do you think have high potential, capable of playing for the U20, U23 and even the national team in the future?

- My players at this time all have good results, but we still want to train and create a generation of players with more quality, more rounded and more mature.

As I have shared before, I really love the life and people of Vietnam when living and working here. My immediate goal is to support Hanoi FC as well as Vietnamese youth football.

I want to emphasize that the abilities of the players have all been shown in the last tournament. And success is the mark of the whole team, not just the individual. I think that to wear the U20, U23 or Vietnam national team jersey is still a very long road ahead. The players must always try to practice and train hard to reach a higher level.

One last question for you, with the current generation of U17 Vietnamese players, do you think that Vietnamese football has the potential to become a force in Asian football? To do that, what must Vietnamese football do to help young players continue to develop?

- I think the last tournament was a good test, showing that we have a young force of players who can do almost unimaginable things. As a coach, as someone who loves and is passionate about football, loves the country and people of Vietnam, I think that the work I am doing needs to continue to be invested in better, not just stopping at the recent results.

Players need to be better invested, have more domestic and international tournaments to compete and improve their skills. I know that VFF's investment in youth football is huge, but this cannot be done by VFF alone, but requires the cooperation of businesses, corporations, and individuals with conditions. Only then will youth football develop and become the next generation for the national team in the future.

Thank you for the conversation!

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hlv-cristiano-roland-trinh-do-u17-viet-nam-khong-kem-cac-the-luc-chau-a-20250417163737432.htm