Nguyễn Thanh Khôi will represent Việt Nam in the U18 all-star Southeast Asian team, ASIAN ELEVEN. — Photo baotintuc.vn

HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Thanh Khôi will represent Việt Nam at the U18 all-star Southeast Asian, ASIAN ELEVEN match against a team from Japan’s Tohoku region, said the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Việt Nam on June 11. 

Khôi joined the Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) - JMG football academy in 2013 when he was 12 years old. He was the captain of the U19 squad competing at the 2019 National U19 Football Championship and a member of Việt Nam’s U18 team.

A total of 21 players from 11 Asian nations will join in ASIAN ELEVEN led by Japanese head coach Takuma Koga.

The international friendly football match will take place on June 22 in Japan’s Fukushima stadium.

The JapaFunCup will be co-organised by the Japan Foundation Asia Centre and the Japan Football Association. It is part of the "Asia in Resonance 2019", a series of events introducing its various cultural exchange programmes between Japan and Southeast Asia.

Started in 2014, the football exchange project ASIAN ELEVEN aims to foster talent and promote mutual understanding between the countries through football.

The project has sent 166 Japanese coaches to Southeast Asia to train more than 3,000 young footballers. — VNS