Mr. Roland's decision
At the request of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), before leaving for the 2026 AFC U17 Championship, coach Cristiano Roland must say goodbye to 3 players in the list of 26 people he has coached for more than 1 month. The Brazilian coach even said goodbye to 4 names: Nguyen Chuong, Quang Khoi, Quang Danh and Dinh Phong.
Mr. Roland's purpose is to win a spot to participate in the AFC U17 Championship finals for Tran Manh Quan, a player who previously did not participate in the AFC U17 Championship.
This decision received support from those interested in youth football. Originally, at the recent regional tournament, the center forward position assigned to Dai Nhan still did not meet expectations from the coaching staff.
Despite U17 Vietnam scoring 19 goals in the Southeast Asian championship journey, center forward Dai Nhan only scored 1 goal. In addition, before participating in the tournament, the player under contract with PVF also had physical problems. This is the reason why coach Roland is even more determined to call up Manh Quan, because the Asian campaign is inherently much more difficult than the regional front.
Manh Quan is the top scorer of the 2025 National U17 Championship with 15 goals. Also last year, he scored 9 goals to become the top scorer of the National U15 Championship. Thanks to this impressive number, he was called up by coach Roland to the Vietnam U17 team to participate in the 2026 AFC U17 Championship qualifiers at the end of last year.
Replacing Quang Khoi who was injured, Manh Quan immediately made his mark with 5 goals, helping his team to top the group with a qualifying winning record.
Savings" promises surprise
On all fronts, Manh Quan scored 29 goals in 29 appearances for Hanoi and Vietnam youth teams in 2025. With an average efficiency of 1 goal/match, the striker born in 2010 is considered a promising choice in the U17 Vietnam attack, alongside Sy Bach, Van Duong at the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals.
Unlike Dai Nhan, Manh Quan is a type of striker who tends to move wide, can attract opposing defenders, opening up space for wingers to penetrate the penalty area.
Positioning skills, reflexes and seizing opportunities are Manh Quan's strengths. Thanks to that, in second ball situations or in chaotic situations in front of the goal, this striker can capture moments to launch a quick and neat shot, making the opponent's goalkeeper or defender surprised.
Instead of using strength as a target striker, Manh Quan will read the game and detect the time to create a difference for the home team.
If there is one thing that the coaching staff and experts are still concerned about, it is the limited international combat experience of the 16-year-old player. However, looking at the examples of Van Duong or Nguyen Luc, who played confidently alongside their seniors at the AFC U17 Championship last year, coach Roland has reason to give this "young killer" a chance.
Moreover, Manh Quan himself will be a bridge connecting the next generation for U17 Vietnam, towards the U17 World Cup 2027 ticket campaign. Continuous succession is also the way Mr. Roland orients and builds for the home team, based on FIFA's 5-year consecutive plan to organize the youth World Cup.
Returning to U17 Vietnam, after a journey lasting more than 10 hours, the team arrived in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). The team proactively built a plan for the team to arrive 2 days early to help coach Roland and his team have enough time to adjust their circadian rhythm, adapt to time differences as well as get used to the weather and field conditions in the host country.
Mr. Roland especially prioritizes solutions to help the team quickly adapt to the living and training environment in Saudi Arabia, thereby creating the best physical and psychological foundation before entering tactical training sessions on the upcoming training ground, towards the opening match against U17 Yemen at the 2026 AFC U17 Championship.
