The Việt Nam U22 team train at the Việt Nam Youth Football Training Centre in Hà Nội ahead of 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualification. Photo VFF

Football

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam U22 team have officially begun their first training session in preparation for the 2022 Asian Federation Confederation (AFC) U23 Asian Cup qualification.

The team trained at the Việt Nam Youth Football Training Centre in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

Due to the complex development of the pandemic, the team members arrived at the centre on different days starting from August 5, depending on conditions for moving from various localities to Hà Nội. However, there are still two players on the list who cannot appear, defender Liễu Quang Vinh and midfielder Lê Văn Đô of SHB Đà Nẵng.

Due to the time coinciding with the gathering of the national senior team, according to the assignment of coach Park Hang-seo, assistant Kim Han-yoon will coordinate with the training board to implement the training lesson plan for the team.

With most players summoned in recent sessions, the team coordinated with each other well. In the early stage of training, the coaching staff mainly focuses on the physical strength of players.

Việt Nam are in group I of the 2022 AFC event with Myanmar, Hong Kong and hosts Chinese Taipei.

However, because North Korea withdrew from the AFC U23 Asian Cup qualification, the AFC decided to adjust the number of teams participating in Group K, with a draw to move one team from the remaining four groups of East Asia, including groups G, H, I and J, to Group K.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese senior team entered the fifth training session on Tuesday to prepare for the final qualifying round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Asia.

The return of Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, Nguyễn Văn Toàn and Nguyễn Tiến Linh created favourable conditions for the team to deploy a technical and tactical approach. Defender Đoàn Văn Hậu has not yet recovered from his injury to join the team. He is still following an injury treatment regime under the guidance of the team doctor.

As planned, the team will today welcome the return of coach Park after he completes medical isolation.

Before that, the South Korean coach returned to his home country to deal with a family matter. On July 28, Park took a flight to Việt Nam, then underwent medical isolation at a hotel in Hà Nội. VNS