Coach Philippe Troussier encourages U22 Vietnam players, looking forward to new tournaments

Coach Philippe Troussier encouraged the U22 Vietnam players to continue trying and see them again at the Panda Cup friendly tournament in China in June.

HLV Philippe Troussier và U22 Việt Nam chia tay và sẽ hội quân vào tháng 6. (Nguồn: VFF)

Coach Philippe Troussier and U22 Vietnam part ways and will reunite in June. (Source: VFF)

On May 17, U22 Vietnam returned home after finishing their journey at SEA Games 32 with a bronze medal in men's football.

The team departed from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City at 2:10 p.m., then split into groups to return to their clubs. Coach Troussier and the northern players arrived at Noi Bai airport at 8:15 p.m. the same day.

Before saying goodbye, the French coach gave the players words of encouragement, motivating the whole team towards the future ahead.

Coach Troussier told his players: "I believe what we learn from this tournament is your confidence. What you have done is a good premise for us to look forward to the future.

Now you will return to the club to prepare for the upcoming tournaments and I will always watch over you."

At SEA Games 32, U22 Vietnam won the first 3 matches in the group stage against Laos (2-0), Singapore (3-1), Malaysia (2-0) before drawing 1-1 with Thailand.

Coach Troussier's team entered the semi-finals in second place in Group B with the same 10 points as Thailand but with a lower goal difference.

In the semi-finals, U22 Vietnam lost to Indonesia with a score of 2-3. In this match, Coach Troussier's team had an extra player from the 60th minute. In the bronze medal match, Vietnam easily defeated Myanmar with a score of 3-1.

According to plan, U22 Vietnam will gather again in June to participate in the Panda Cup international friendly tournament in China.

This is a youth football tournament held annually since 2014. After two years of interruption due to Covid-19, this year the Panda Cup was restarted with the participation of 4 U22 teams, including host China, Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

This tournament is considered a useful practice for U22 Vietnam in preparation for the 2024 U23 Asian qualifiers and the 19th Asian Games taking place in September.

Source