Futsal 

Vietnamese players in action during their match against Iran at an international friendly tournament last month in HCM City. Việt Nam are aiming for a top four finish in the 2024 AFC Asian Futsal Cup. Photos courtesy of VFF

HCM CITY — Diego Giustozzi has picked Vietnamese strongest 14 players for the AFC Asian Futsal Cup campaign which will begin on April 17 in Thailand.

Giustozzi will take two goalkeepers, two fixos (defenders), three pivots (strikers) and seven alas (midfielders).

National champions Thái Sơn Nam FC have nine representatives in the team. Among them are 2023 Golden Ball's top three Phạm Đức Hòa, Châu Đoàn Phát and Hồ Văn Ý.

Other experienced players in the squad are Trần Thái Huy and Nguyễn Anh Duy.

Sahako FC's skipper Ngô Ngọc Sơn is back after a six-year absence. Sơn  was member of the squad that took part in the Futsal World Cup 2016. Two other players of Sahako are Trần Nhật Trung and Chu Văn Tiến.

Từ Minh Quang and Nguyễn Hữu Phúc from Thái Sơn Bắc and Khánh Hòa, respectively make up the rest of the squad.

The Argentinean coach faced with unexpected absence of two key players Nguyễn Minh Trí and Đinh Công Viên due to injuries.

Trí contributed remarkably in Việt Nam's two World Cup campaigns in 2016 and 2021. He is one of country's top strikers. Meanwhile Viên has proved his ability and was Giustozzi's top pick throughout 2023 tournaments.

The team, captained by veteran Đức Hòa, are now in Bangkok for the last tough of preparation before their match against Myanmar.

In Group A  they play China on April 19 and the hosts two days later.

“We played five friendly matches in which four were really important for the coaching board to select the official players of the team," Giustozzi said.

"Through the matches, I gave all players opportunities to compete. I am pleased with my selected players and confident with the new comers. I want players to maintain their highest focus and top physique for the competition. 

"Friendly matches were only for warming up, part of every team's preparation. In the Cup, the team who do their job better will be the winner. I don't think much about our rivals but care about how my players perform in the court, if they can deliver all the best or not."

Argentinean coach Diego Giustozzi  is happy with the squad he has chosen.

The former World Cup winning coach added that Asian futsal has strongly developed recently. Top teams were almost all at the same level. He evaluated Myanmar and China were slightly behind Việt Nam but Thailand more advanced.

He said the common problem of Vietnamese futsal was physical and mental weaknesses but he found a way to fix the problems. Now Việt Nam would try to complete final preparation and focus all attention on the upcoming tournament.

Việt Nam target a top four finish in the Asian Cup so that they can qualify for the World Cup for a third time and hopefully winning a medal for the first time in history. 

He said: "Việt Nam will do all we can to secure a World Cup spot. We will try our best as we have always done in every tournament. The World Cup is our motivation.

"Having participated in the World Cup twice, we know how to prepare well for this year's tournament." VNS