The U22 players will be in Hà Nội for 10 days from August 16 to 26 for the training camp to prepare for the Southeast Asian Games next year. — Photo dantri.com.vn

 HÀ NỘI — Coach Park Hang Seo has called up 48 players for a training camp to prepare for next year's Southeast Asian Games, where the U22 team will attempt to defend their crown.

This is the second training session to prepare for the tournament set to be held in Việt Nam in November next year.

The South Korean coach has stuck with more than half of the players from his first training session.

Players like defender Đặng Văn Tới and midfielder Lê Văn Xuân of Hà Nội FC, Trần Văn Công of Thống Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh FC, Đặng Văn Lắm of Sông Lam Nghệ An, Nguyễn Trọng Long of Phố Hiến FC, striker Nhâm Mạnh Dũng of Viettel, Lê Minh Binh of Bà Rịa Vũng Tàu, and Mai Xuân Quyết of Nam Định FC are new faces in the squad.

In addition, the Việt Nam national team has cancelled their training camp for the upcoming World Cup 2022 qualifiers because the matches slated for this autumn have been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Therefore, some young players of the senior team such as goalkeeper Nguyễn Văn Toản, defender Bùi Hoàng Việt Anh and midfielder Lý Công Hoàng Anh will attend the training camp with the U22 team.

Star defender Đoàn Văn Hậu will not attend the training camp as coach Park has said he wants to evaluate the improvement of the player after a year on the books of SC Heerenveen in the Netherlands.

Hậu is a key player of the national team and the first Vietnamese footballer to play in the Netherlands and is on a different level from the rest of the U22, so it wouldn't be appropriate to call him up, coach Park said.

To ensure the prevention and control of COVID-19, the players will be in Hà Nội on August 16 to carry out coronavirus testing.

The team will have their first training session on the afternoon of August 18. The players will have 10 days to prove their worth to coach Park. — VNS