New factor in Vietnam U23 team

New factor in Vietnam U23 team

On August 25, Head Coach Kim Sang Sik announced the list of the Vietnam U23 team to prepare for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers. Of the 24 players called up, the most notable is the appearance of Tran Thanh Trung - a player who has just entered the top 3 Best Young Players of Bulgaria in the 2024-2025 season.

According to information from the Vietnam Football Federation, Tran Thanh Trung (Chung Nguyen Do), born in 2005 in Bulgaria to a Vietnamese family, currently holds dual Vietnamese and Bulgarian citizenship. He grew up at CSKA Sofia's training center, played professionally since 2013 and played for Slavia Sofia's first team in the Bulgarian National Championship before returning to join Ninh Binh club in V.League 2025-2026.

Tran Thanh Trung in Ninh Binh Club jersey playing in V.League. Photo: VFF.

The 1.75m tall central midfielder has played 31 matches, scored 2 goals and had 1 assist in the 2024-2025 season. With a controlling and defensive style of play, Thanh Trung is also among the top 5 young players with the most interceptions in European national championships (except the top 5 leagues). He is also a familiar face in Bulgaria's youth teams, from U17 to U21, and was highly regarded by Barcelona scouts as a promising midfielder in Europe.

Previously, in the match between Ninh Binh and Dong A Thanh Hoa in round 2 of V.League 2025-2026, Tran Thanh Chung was brought onto the field from the middle of the second half. His performance was watched by coach Kim Sang Sik when he directly attended this match. Appearing for a short time, the player born in 2005 demonstrated his current football mindset, personal technique and good vision.

Ninh Binh coach Gerard Albadalejo commented: "Tran Thanh Chung is a young player who is developing every day. He needs time to adapt to the weather in Vietnam and still has opportunities to develop in the future."

In U23 Vietnam, there are many promising names such as Cong Phuong, Thai Son, Van Truong... playing in the same position as Tran Thanh Chung. Therefore, when joining the national team, this Vietnamese-American midfielder will have to compete fiercely with teammates who are already familiar and have worked with coach Kim Sang Sik for a long time.

In this training session, U23 Vietnam will embark on the second important task in 2025, the 2026 U23 Asian Qualifiers, after successfully defending the U23 Southeast Asian Championship. This is also an important preparation step towards the 33rd SEA Games. Therefore, the call-up list still retains the main squad from the recent regional tournament, creating stability in the squad and playing style. According to the plan, the U23 Vietnam team will gather and practice in Viet Tri ( Phu Tho ) from August 30.

In Group C of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team will meet U23 Bangladesh (September 3), U23 Singapore (September 6) and U23 Yemen (September 9). With an increasingly improved squad and the emergence of promising players, the Vietnam U23 team promises to continue to bring fans impressive and emotional performances in the upcoming continental qualifiers. Tran Thanh Chung will be a new player to help the coaching staff make more calculations. Hopefully, he will integrate well with the team to appear in the official lineup of the Vietnam U23 team.

Vietnam team gathers for the 3rd session of 2025

As part of the preparation plan for the next matches in the 2027 Asian Cup Final Qualifiers, the Vietnamese team will gather again on August 29 in Hanoi. This is the third gathering in 2025 for the team, with the main purpose of reviewing, testing and evaluating the force to prepare for the next matches in the 2027 Asian Cup Final Qualifiers which will take place next October.

Therefore, in this gathering list, besides the main players, there are also new players such as goalkeeper Quan Van Chuan (Hanoi), defender Tran Hoang Phuc (HCMC CA), Dinh Quang Kiet (HAGL), midfielder Ly Cong Hoang Anh (Nam Dinh Blue Steel), striker Pham Gia Hung (Ninh Binh). In addition, the team also recorded the return after injury of midfielder Doan Ngoc Tan (Dong A Thanh Hoa) and defender Phan Tuan Tai (The Cong Viettel).

Because Head Coach Kim Sang Sik is busy leading the Vietnam U23 team to compete in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers at the same time, the training of the Vietnam team is assigned to Acting Head Coach Dinh Hong Vinh. It is expected that during the training period at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center, the Vietnam team will have 2 practice matches with the Hanoi Police Club (September 4) and the Nam Dinh Thep Xanh Club (September 7). With a force of many talented players, especially high-quality foreign players, these will be two ideal "blue troops" for the Vietnam team's tests.

HH

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/nhan-to-moi-o-doi-tuyen-u23-viet-nam--i779309/