Before the departure, head coach Diego Raul Giustozzi decided to shorten the list of the Vietnamese futsal team from 20 players to 16. Accordingly, 4 players had to say goodbye to their teammates in this period: goalkeeper Mai Xuan Hiep, ala Duong Ngoc Linh, Ngo Minh Hieu and pivo Dao Minh Quang.
During the training period in Thailand, coach Diego Raul Giustozzi will continue to review and evaluate the team's strength and playing style through two friendly matches, one against Hongyen Thakam Club - the reigning champion of the Thai National Futsal Championship on October 27 and the other against the Australian Futsal Team on October 29.
After these two matches, coach Diego Raul Giustozzi will officially finalize the official list of 14 players before competing in the 2024 Southeast Asian futsal championship.
The 2024 Southeast Asian Futsal Championship will take place from November 2 to November 10 in Thailand, with the participation of 9 teams and divided into 2 groups, of which Group A has 5 teams including: Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Timor Leste. Group B has the participation of Indonesia, Myanmar, Australia and Cambodia.
The teams will compete in a round robin format to determine rankings in each group. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals.
According to coach Diego Raul Giustozzi, futsal teams in Southeast Asia have all made progress, so the competition is higher than before.
“I know well about the opponents of the Vietnamese team in the Southeast region. They have all made progress, not only Thailand but Malaysia and Indonesia can also be considered concerns. However, the Vietnamese players have also changed and improved. I believe the team will achieve the set goals, first of all, overcoming the challenge in the group stage,” said coach Diego Raul Giustozzi.
