HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s Promotion Fund of Vietnamese Football Talents (PVF) team will join 23 others at the Rotterdam Football Cup, a friendly tournament for U15 players on April 20-22 in the Netherlands.

PVF and Chinese Guangzhou Evergrande are the only two squads from Asia invited to the annual event which will see young teams of European giants such as Atletico Madrid of Spain and Tottenham Hotspur of England.

Other teams include Leipzig and TSG Hoffenheim (Germany), AZ Alkmaar (of the hosts), Hajduk Split (Croatia), and Club Brugge (Belgium).

PVF are in Group A with Atletico, SBV Excelsior (of the hosts), Orlando Pirates (South Africa), FC Tatra Presov (Slovakia) and Ilves FC (Finland).

German TSG Hoffenheim are the reigning champions having won the competition after beating AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) 1-0 in last year’s final.

PVF are one of the best football training centres in Việt Nam. Many of their trainees have gone on to represent the national team at various age levels. The U15 side just won a gold medal at a friendly tournament in the Football Association of Singapore International Challenge Cup in December.

The Rotterdam Football Cup has witnessed the participation of many top European clubs over the years including Chelsea FC, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, PSV Eindhoven, West Ham United and Southampton. — VNS