After the victory over U17 UAE to win a ticket to the quarter-finals and win a ticket to the 2026 U17 World Cup, U17 Vietnam returned to the training ground in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) on the afternoon of May 14 local time to prepare for the confrontation with U17 Australia.
Having just experienced a tense match in the last round of the group stage, the coaching staff prioritized physical recovery exercises and psychological relief for the players. The training session of coach Cristiano Roland and his team took place with light exercise.
The group of starting players in the match against U17 UAE mainly walked for relaxation and participated in light exercise games, while reserve players or players were rarely supplemented with tactical coordination exercises.
The atmosphere on the training ground was comfortable as the whole team still maintained their excitement after the historic milestone just achieved. However, the players also quickly focused their attention on the next challenge against a very strong opponent, U17 Australia.
Answering the media before the training session, midfielder Nguyen Minh Thuy said that the whole team is very touched after winning the right to enter the quarterfinals of the 2026 AFC U17 Championship and winning a ticket to participate in the 2026 U17 World Cup in Qatar.
“I and the whole team feel very happy and touched to have won a ticket to the quarter-finals of the AFC U17 Championship as well as a spot to participate in the 2026 U17 World Cup in Qatar,” Minh Thuy shared.
The midfielder of Song Lam Nghe An club said that the coaching staff has reminded the whole team to quickly put aside the joy of victory to focus maximally on the upcoming match.
The coaches in the coaching staff have reminded us to temporarily forget yesterday's victory to focus maximally on training sessions, preparing best for the upcoming match against Australia," Minh Thuy said.
Assessing the opponent in the quarter-finals, Minh Thuy said that U17 Australia possesses a very good physique, fitness, speed and ability to organize their playing style.
“We used to meet Australia in the semi-finals of the U17 Southeast Asian Championship before. They are a team with very good physique, fitness, speed and tactical skills. The whole team will try to improve more skills according to the coaching staff's lesson plan to have the best preparation for the match. The goal of the whole team is to try to go as deep as possible in the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals,” Minh Thuy said.
Nguyen Minh Thuy is one of the outstanding factors of U17 Vietnam at this year's tournament. In the 3-2 victory over U17 UAE, this midfielder scored to increase the score to 2-1, and also took a corner kick for his teammate to score the decisive goal to bring U17 Vietnam to win the right to participate in the 2026 U17 World Cup.
Throughout the group stage, the Song Lam Nghe An player started all 3 matches, playing an important role in the midfield thanks to his ability to keep pace, escape pressing and organize play, making a great contribution to helping U17 Vietnam overcome a difficult group to reach the quarter-finals.
