In 2017, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team marked a milestone when they qualified for the FIFA U20 World Cup for the first time in history. But after 8 years, Vietnamese football can only find a way to the big sea through the women's football team or futsal.
New and old stories are still a chance for young players to compete. Currently, if a young player participates in the qualifying round, the final round of a youth level, they usually play 13-16 matches. In addition, if he continues to be called up to the national youth team, he will play 5-7 more matches.
Meanwhile, in the domestic league alone, an Indonesian player can play up to 35 matches. When promoted to the national team, Mathew Baker and his teammates can reach the milestone of 40-45 appearances in a year. The constant rubbing of hands helped Indonesia progress quickly, touching the World Cup ticket more easily.
In fact, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) understands this. There were times when the National Cup for young players appeared with the purpose of creating more playgrounds, but for many different reasons, the tournament had to stop and has not been able to continue. Therefore, increasing the number of matches for young players has now become an urgent problem.
"I have had the opportunity to participate in the U20 World Cup, so I understand the part of the difficulty of winning this ticket. Vietnamese football is showing many signs of good luck and good investment, going in the right direction. Our chances of qualifying for the World Cup are increasing. However, Vietnamese youth football that wants to qualify for the World Cup also needs to invest in a systematic direction and prepare a good force.
In my opinion, it is necessary to raise the level of domestic youth tournaments, creating a competition system with more matches. Internationally, young players also need high-quality training subjects," said Mr. Dinh Hong Vinh - President of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Club and assistant coach of U22 Vietnam.
However, in addition to international training, organizers also need to tighten the management and operation of youth tournaments. This is the foundation for the sustainable development of Vietnamese football. Because, negativity is still permeating and like a virus that " breaks" each cell.
A leader of the V.League team told Lao Dong: "When I was assigned to be the team leader in the youth tournament, there were often negative warning messages on the field before the match. More surprisingly, the results were very correct. We then had to do a lot of work so that the children and teenagers would not give up.
I don't mind revealing, but our team has a case of lending players in lower leagues. Every experience has been gained, but the players have negative problems off the pitch, it's a pity but they still have to be eliminated."
Not only the youth tournament but also the First, Second and Third Division are important playgrounds that provide a stepping stone for young players to move towards a professional environment.
Tightening the quality of organization, minimizing negativity, Vietnamese football can think about many generations of players in the future.
