On the morning of June 2, the U16 Vietnam team returned home after finishing their journey at the 2025 CFA Team China U16 International Tournament.
Although most of the new players participated in an international tournament for the first time, U16 Vietnam left many impressions against strong opponents such as Australia, China and Saudi Arabia.
Sharing about the recent journey, head coach Cristiano Roland could not hide his emotions: I am very proud and congratulate all the players. I understand the importance and the requirements to prepare for each match.
From the first days of training until the matches at the tournament, all work is aimed at helping them progress and develop, especially learning how to play modern football at high speed and intensity.
Three weeks is not a long time, but most of them have matured a lot, showing a serious attitude in training and competing".
After the comeback match to force host China U16 to share the score with a score of 2-2, coach Cristiano Roland emphasized: "Each player has the strength of the Vietnamese people. When that strength is maximized, no obstacle can overcome them.
Although the opponents are stronger and the conditions are better, with the quality and spirit of Vietnam, they can still overcome. They have every right to be proud of that.
Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), Head of the delegation Nguyen Minh Chau also praised the team's efforts, and conveyed the compliments and congratulations of VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan to coach Cristiano Roland, the coaching staff and the players who contributed 3 quality matches in the tournament.
Notably, except for the two players who attended the U17 Asian Finals 2025, Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc and Nguyen Van Duong, the remaining members of the team have only first appeared in the international arena. This is considered an important stepping stone towards the goal of the upcoming Asian U17 Asian qualifier.
In the final match of the 2025 CFA Team China U16 International Tournament, host China U16 unexpectedly won 5-2 against Australia U16, thereby winning the championship. This result also means that coach Cristiano Roland and his team finished in 3rd place with 4 points (losing 1-2 to Australia, drawing 2-2 with China and winning 2-1 against Saudi Arabia).
According to the plan, the flight of the Vietnam U16 team is expected to land at Noi Bai airport (Hanoi) at 14:35 this afternoon (June 2).
