Football

Coach Amphaivanh Chanthalavong hopes the four-in-one strategy will be the winning formula at the International Student Football Tournament 2025 on March 22-30 in HCM City. Photo courtesy of Amphaivanh Chanthalavong

HCM CITY — Gathering players from the four strongest clubs to create the Laos University team, is, the coach hopes, a winning formula for the first International Student Football Tournament 2025, later this month in HCM City.

Speaking with reporters, the team's official Khamtanh Somvong, who is also Education and Cultural Counselor of the Lao Embassy in Việt Nam, said he couldn't wait to take part in the competition on March 22-30 at the Tôn Đức Thắng University's Stadium.

He said he was excited and happy receiving invitation from the organising committee and immediately reported back to those back in Laos so that they could form a football team to participate.

"We have made careful preparations to contribute to the overall success of the tournament," said Khamtanh Somvong.

"Initially, we planned to send a team from a specific university. But after discussion, we wanted a team which would represent students from all over Laos, so we notified four major universities to select their best players."

They are from the National University of Laos, Champasak University, Souphanouvong University, and Savannakhet University.

"Lao players always compete to represent their nation with pride and with high determination and of course Lao students are the same," Khamtanh Somvong said.

"The university sports movement in Laos, including football, is very advanced so we wanted to show this, playing our very best at the tournament organised by Thanh Niên Newspaper, aiming to compete for the highest position.

"Our performance here will also become a driving force to promote the student sports movement back in Laos. More importantly, the tournament will be a bridge strengthening the friendship between Laos and Việt Nam and other countries in the region," he said.

The coach Amphaivanh Chanthalavong, who works at the Ministry of Education and Sports of Laos, is also head coach of Namtha United FC, who are competing in Lao League 1 this season. Previously he took charge of Bay Savan Futsal Club which won the Lao Futsal League 2023.

The team line up for the Lao University team will include up to five members who played in the domestic championship and national U17 and U19 squads.

Speaking to reporters, Chanthalavong said there was no clear advantage to having this team selection in preparation for the tournament.

"Our team gather best players from four universities. (Despite their high quality) they are from different localities leading to a challenge in training together prior to the tournament," Chanthalavong said.

"Of course, coaching a football team is always difficult, but I like to face challenges. I believe that with 11 years of experience, I can handle well the unexpected and difficult situations that may happen when leading the football team of Lao University."

Chanthalavong added his goal in this tournament was to exchange, learn and share culture through football. The team from 'Land of a Million Elephants' also wanted to gain more experience from participating teams which come from more developed football backgrounds.

"Certainly, all teams have prepared thoroughly. I believe that the two teams of the hosts Việt Nam have the best preparation, while the team from Malaysia are also very notable," he said.

"We are eager for the day to leave for Việt Nam. We would like to thank the tournament organisers for inviting us and creating favourable conditions for the Lao University team. We will try our best to achieve the highest results." -- VNS