The Vietnamese futsal team gather for the 2024 AFC futsal qualifiers. — Photo VFF

HCM City — The Vietnamese futsal team have gathered for their first training session of 2023 in HCM City, as they ramp up their preparations for the 2024 AFC Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers.

Head coach Giustozzi Diego Raul called up 23 players, including some new players. They are Trần Tuyên, Nguyễn Trần Duy of Sài Gòn FC, Hoàng Sỹ Linh, Nguyễn Văn Tuấn of Thái Sơn Bắc, Nguyễn Văn Cố Phát Cổn of Cao Bằng, Đinh Công Viên, Trần Quang Toàn, Lưu Thanh Bảo of Sahako and Dương Ngọc Linh of Thái Sơn Nam.

The team will hone their skills until February 15, when the players will return to their clubs to prepare for the 2023 National Futsal Championship which will start in March.

Unlike previous editions, at the 2024 AFC Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers, teams will be divided into groups and participate in a single qualifying round, instead of being divided into regions like East Zone, West Zone, or the ASEAN Zone. This also means that the Southeast Asian futsal championship is no longer as decisive to the ticket to the Asian futsal finals.

The Việt Nam Football Federation (VFF) has taken steps to ensure that Coach Giustozzi has the best preparation and can develop a winning playstyle for the team as they aim to qualify for the 2024 Asian futsal finals and compete in the 2024 FIFA futsal World Cup. These efforts include creating conditions for the team to come together in various phases throughout the year.

The next team gathering will take place in April when the Vietnamese team will compete in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Coach Raul, an Argentine born in 1978, led his native country to win the 2016 Futsal World Cup in Colombia. It is hoped he can lead Vietnamese futsal to new heights.

In recent years, Vietnamese futsal has made strong developments, participating in the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia in 2016. The national team appeared at the World Cup again in 2021 under the guidance of coach Phạm Minh Giang. At both tournaments, Việt Nam reached the round of 16. VNS