Good tournament of U17 Vietnam
At 7:30 PM today (April 24), the Vietnam U17 team will play the final match of the 2026 Southeast Asian U17 Championship, against U17 Malaysia after reversing to defeat the defending champion U17 Australia in the semi-finals. The performances of Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc and his teammates are positively assessed by experts and fans. It is not surprising that these things come under the direction of Mr. Cristiano Roland, a Brazilian coach who has been and is focusing on developing football thinking for young players.
That can be seen through the system he built, sufficiently flexible, sufficiently tight in the operating process, so that a few outstanding individuals can confidently shine at necessary times.
One noteworthy point is that after the resounding victories against U17 Malaysia and U17 Timor-Leste, U17 Vietnam did not play an overly excited match against U17 Indonesia. The 0-0 draw afterwards surprised Mr. Roland because he expected the opponent to play offensively. But it also shows a bit of practical necessity in the tournament where only the top team in the group is sure to reach the semi-finals (3 top teams and the second team with the best results will advance).
In one way, the 50-year-old coach himself also has emotional restraint for his students. Because at this level, success should only be motivation, not too flashy glory to be immersed in joy.
Why control emotions?
Why shouldn't youth football be praised too much? Success, praise, but then it doesn't go anywhere. Isn't Vietnamese football already going through too many stories like that? And if you look at the U17 Southeast Asian Championship itself, there are also grounds to assert that if there is success here, don't take it as something that obscures reason.
In the previous 20 tournaments held, U17 Vietnam participated 15 times and won 3 times (2006, 2010, 2017). Only 2 other teams also won the championship 3 times, which are U17 Thailand and U17 Australia. But remember, the list of champions also includes U17 Indonesia, U17 Malaysia and U17 Myanmar (2 times each). Not only that, even U17 Laos has also been 3 times runner-up, U17 Timor-Leste once won third place, U17 Singapore 2 times fourth place or U17 Cambodia also once ranked fourth. What does it show? The instability of youth. Or in other words, teams depend on "good players" rather than a long-term system.
If the overall picture is still not convincing, let's look back at U17 Vietnam. Although 3 times champion, what is it after each time? Is it still possible to be eliminated from the group stage, still lose unbelievable matches... Therefore, in the overall picture of Vietnamese football from the club level to the national team, except for the U23 generation that is close to the national team, other U generations participate in regional tournaments with the mindset of checking the quality of youth training, assessing the ability to transform from training to competition, reviewing the philosophy of playing football at the grassroots level. Being champion does not mean a bright future, but it is important to create how many players can go further to U20, U23, and then the national team. Therefore, be restrained with the current success, considering it as preparation for the AFC U17 Championship in Saudi Arabia, where opponents U17 Korea, U17 Yemen, U17 UAE will wait for Roland and his students in May.
