Coach of U22 Vietnam: "We are not afraid to face China and South Korea"

(Dan Tri) - Although having to face strong opponents such as U22 China, Korea or Uzbekistan, coach Dinh Hong Vinh and his team are still confident of having the best performance.

"The whole team will try their best to compete well and achieve the highest professional efficiency, thereby creating a sprint for the 33rd SEA Games," acting head coach Dinh Hong Vinh expressed at a press conference on the afternoon of November 11 before the international football tournament CFA Team China - Panda Cup 2025, taking place in Chengdu, Sichuan province (China).

The 2025 Panda Cup friendly tournament is considered an important step for participating teams towards the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals taking place in January 2026.

For U22 Vietnam, this is also a quality international competition, helping the coaching staff continue to perfect the squad, test personnel and tactics, and is an important stepping stone before the sprint stage towards SEA Games 33 taking place in December.

Coach Dinh Hong Vinh (far right) confidently affirmed that U22 Vietnam will strive to achieve good results at the Panda Cup 2025 friendly tournament (Photo: VFF).

Before the opening match against the host team U22 China, coach Dinh Hong Vinh sent his thanks to the Chinese Football Association (CFA) for the thoughtful and respectful reception for the whole team right after arriving in China to participate in the tournament.

In addition to host China, the two guest teams Uzbekistan and South Korea are no strangers to U22 Vietnam as they met each other in an international friendly tournament organized by CFA in March 2025.

“In that tournament, U22 Vietnam drew 1-1 with South Korea, 0-0 with Uzbekistan and 1-1 with China. Those matches really helped our young players mature a lot, contributing to creating a foundation for U22 Vietnam to win the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, and also win all the qualifiers for the 2026 Asian U23 Championship,” Coach Dinh Hong Vinh shared.

However, coach Dinh Hong Vinh also frankly admitted the difficulties in preparing for this tournament when many players had to compete in the V-League so they could not gather early.

“We only had our full squad this afternoon, as six players had just completed their playing obligations for their home clubs. However, the team has been preparing throughout many training sessions since the end of 2024, so this is not a big obstacle. The whole team will try their best to play as well as possible,” said coach Dinh Hong Vinh.

According to the plan, this afternoon (November 11), the U22 Vietnam team will start their first training session in Sichuan. Before that, right after settling in their accommodation, the coaching staff only organized muscle relaxation exercises in the hotel grounds to help the players recover after the long journey.

Match schedule of U22 Vietnam in the Panda Cup 2025 friendly tournament (Photo: VFF).

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hlv-u22-viet-nam-chung-toi-khong-ngai-khi-doi-dau-trung-quoc-han-quoc-20251111152414057.htm