Young tournament problem
U17 Vietnam closed the U17 Asian Cup 2025 full of regret when missing the opportunity to attend U17 World Cup, just less than 10 minutes from the historic ticket before the UAE. From the story of the players such as Gia Bao, Duy Khang, Thien Phu, Viet Anh ..., the issue of long-term development for the group of 16-17 is posed.
Compared to U17 Indonesia played more than 35-40 matches per year, the U17 Vietnam players were disadvantaged to only participate in U17, U19 and U21 tournaments, with a very limited number of matches: U17 and U19 qualifiers have 10 matches, U21 up to 5 matches, the final round of each tournament only has 6 matches.
On average, with a young player in a mid -range (or weak) team, the ability to stop early in the qualifying round, they can only play up to 20 matches/year. Meanwhile, the main player in a strong team can reach the final (all 3 rankings) to reach absolute 44 matches/year. Not to mention, the aerial tournaments take place continuously for a year.
For example, in 2024, the national U19 tournament was concentrated in the first 2 months of the year. Meanwhile, the national U17 tournament divided two stages: the qualifying round from mid -March to early April, before the final round of the start of more than 10 days of July. And the U21 national tournament often organized the qualifying round and the final round from mid -July to mid -August.
If it is not for the U16, U19 national team, these players will practice about 5-6 months in the year (May, June, September, October and November). Therefore, continuity in competition cannot be guaranteed for these young factors.
17 years old can not "launch" V.League
In the context of the national youth tournaments that have not met the frequency and number of matches for the 16-17-year-old players, the club-level playground such as the first and second-class division is considered a suitable solution. In contrast, the V.League has not really been open to this age group.
During 25 years V.League, the 17 -year -old player only counted on the fingers. Even Van Quyen and Cong Vinh - two outstanding talents of Song Lam Nghe An - also only debuted when he was 18 years old. Similarly, Quang Hai, Van Hau, Dinh Trong and Duy Manh have started playing V.League from 18-19 years old.
In particular, some cases are given the opportunity when they are 17 years old. It was Nguyen Lam of Hoang Anh Gia Lai or Nguyen Cong Thanh of Dong Thap first appeared in V.League 2025. In which, Cong Thanh established the youngest player in the history of V.League at that time when he was 17 months and 8 months 23 days.
This record was crushed by Tran Gia Bao of Hoang Anh Gia Lai. This player is a rare name in the history of the V.League to "release" the tournament when less than 17 years old. Right in the launch of the National Championship, he scored and became the youngest player to score at the 16th and 8th milestones of December.
Also in the third decade of the V.League, the tournament witnessed a few more brave clubs when giving the opportunity to the 17 -year -old. Midfielder Nguyen Cong Phuong was awarded the opportunity to play 5 matches in the season before the age of 18. Similarly, striker Le Dinh Long Vu is present early in the V.League with 12 matches and Bui Thanh Duc plays 5 matches, in the context of Song Lam Nghe An advocated using young players.
A few years ago, Nguyen Phi Hoang of Da Nang also played in V.League 2020, despite being more than 16 years old. He kicked the 3-3 draw against Thanh Hoa that season. Before the good performance, Phi Hoang was summoned by coach Park Hang-seo to the U22 Vietnam team to learn and develop more competence.
In general, the story of V.League clubs facilitates the U17 player to play, but that number is still very meager. Hopefully witnessing the "prodigy" overcoming the normal development, playing with the thickness of the highest level in Vietnam, therefore, it is still modest.
The most feasible solution for the U17 Vietnam player after the U17 Asian Cup 2025 is to continue playing in the national youth tournament system, while waiting for the opportunity to play in the First and Second Division to gain experience.
