Coach Roland suddenly mentioned the young HAGL star, wanting U.17 Vietnam to fight to win the ticket

U.17 Vietnam decisive battle

Vietnam U17 will begin the 2025 AFC U17 Championship qualifying campaign from October 23 to 27, when coach Cristiano Roland and his team are in the same group with Myanmar U17, Yemen U17 and Kyrgyzstan U17. To qualify, Roland and his team need to top the group, or be among the best second-placed teams.

At the press conference before the tournament, Mr. Roland affirmed: "We have prepared with 2 training sessions in China and Japan, with the support of VFF, we have the opportunity to prepare best for this tournament. This is not an easy group, the challenges are very difficult but the U17 Vietnam team will compete with all their might", Coach Roland assessed.

Coaches answer the press before the tournament

The U.17 Vietnam strategist also commented on Tran Gia Bao, a young star who is attracting attention for becoming the youngest player to score in a match in the V-League (scoring against Quang Nam in the opening match, helping HAGL win 4-0). Gia Bao could not participate in the training trip to Japan, but this player still plays an important role.

"In Japan, U.17 Vietnam did not have Gia Bao, but the whole team still practiced and had the best preparation. All players are equally important. When Gia Bao returns, we also aim for a common goal to show fighting spirit and solidarity," Mr. Roland affirmed.

To prepare for the 2025 AFC U17 qualifiers, Myanmar U17 had two important friendly matches with Qatar U17, winning 1-0 in the first leg and losing 0-2 in the second leg. Meanwhile, Yemen U17 also had a notable friendly match against Oman U17 with a 1-1 draw. These are all opponents that are not easy to defeat in the competition with Vietnam U17 team in Group I.

Coach Roland emphasized: "After 2 training trips, the biggest improvement we have made is solidarity, so that the players are always ready to support each other. I also hope to receive the support of fans in the stands for the upcoming matches."

Coach Roland of U.17 Vietnam

What do opponents say?

The first opponent of U.17 Vietnam is U.17 Kyrgzystan, a highly rated team. Coach Igor Nikitin said: "Football in Kyrgyzstan is very developed, so the players have the opportunity to watch the national team compete. Each victory of the team is a motivation for young players to strive, make efforts in the future and set the goal of wearing the national team jersey. Hopefully U.17 Kyrgyzstan will play well in this tournament as a stepping stone in the future."

Before the tournament, U.17 Kyrgzystan had 2 training sessions in Thailand and Vietnam to adapt to the climate and weather conditions. Evaluating the host team, Mr. Nikitin said: "U.17 Vietnam has a big advantage not only in terms of field conditions and spectators, but U.17 Kyrgyzstan respects all opponents in this group, we will be determined to achieve the best results.

The U.17 youth team's results are unpredictable, influenced by many factors such as psychology and external conditions, so we will try our best in the tournament."

Coach Nikitin is confident in the ability of U.17 Kyrgyzstan

In the remaining match taking place in the opening round (tomorrow afternoon, October 23), U.17 Myanmar will meet U.17 Yemen. Mr. Aung Zaw Myo, the team's head coach, said that the Qatar training trip was very helpful for Myanmar. This strategist said that U.17 Vietnam is a strong team, trained abroad. Mr. Aung Zaw Myo was impressed with Vietnam's 1-0 victory over Japan at the Peace Cup.

"At the U.16 Southeast Asia tournament, the team was led by a Japanese coach, and I played the role of assistant. The squad at that time was mainly students, and there was little time to assemble the squad, leading to poor results. Since then, we have made changes to the system, tactics, and personnel situation to aim for the best results in the U.17 Asia qualifiers."

As an unknown factor in Group I, U.17 Yemen had a very long training session in Oman and Jordan. This is the basis for them to aim for good results in this year's tournament. However, the disadvantage of U.17 Yemen is the very difficult travel distance, only arriving in Vietnam 3 days before the opening match.

Coach Samer Mohammed Fadhi Saleh affirmed his determination: "U.17 Yemen will try our best to be able to win a ticket to the final round for the first time. We have prepared our tactics and mentality to overcome the tournament. We respect all opponents in this group.

All four teams are on the same level and there are very few differences. The results will be shown on the field. I wish all four teams good luck in the upcoming matches."

Group I schedule of the U.17 Asian qualifiers

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-roland-bat-ngo-nhac-den-sao-tre-hagl-muon-u17-viet-nam-quyet-dau-de-gianh-ve-185241022145313938.htm