Vietnam football's French coach aims for Olympics

Coach Philippe Troussier at a press conference on September 5, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Hieu Luong

Troussier's U23 squad began preparing for the Asian Cup in March, he said.

Since then, the team won the bronze medal at this year's SEA Games 32 and then topped all of Southeast Asia by winning the AFF U23 Championship title.

Coach Troussier said he has worked with 70 players, many of whom have been with him since he coached Vietnam's U19 team in 2019-2020.

"I'm preparing for the journey to the U23 Asian Cup and the Olympics," Troussier said at a press conference before the 2024 U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, which will take place in northern Vietnam's Phu Tho Province. "The players will also have to compete for a place on the national team in October."

In the Asia Cup qualifying round, Vietnam are the host of group C, and they will play Guam, Yemen and Singapore. Vietnam are considered the strongest team in the group, but Troussier said it will be more difficult to win the group than some think. He wants his players to give their best and put into practice everything they have been training for.

"We have the number one position in Southeast Asia," Troussier said. "But when I came here, my mission was to motivate the players to reach beyond the region to the world."

Vietnam's goal is to top group C to join 15 other teams in the main event in Qatar next year. To attend the Olympics in Paris next year, Vietnam must at least reach the semifinals of the U23 Asian Cup. If Vietnam win third place or higher, they will directly qualify for the Olympics, while the fourth place will have a play-off with Guinea.

Vietnam will play Guam for the opening match of the Asian Cup qualifiers at Viet Tri Stadium Tuesday night.

Guam's coach Dominic Gadia said he does not care about the results, but aims to build a foundation for the future.

"I have researched as much as I can about Vietnam, so I have a lot of respect for the team," Gadia said. "We have players born in the U.S. and this is an opportunity for them to show their ability."

Yemen will also play Singapore on Wednesday. Coaches of both teams rated Vietnam as the strongest in the group, but affirmed that "surprises" still happen often.

"Opportunities are available for all teams and whoever performs the best will earn the ticket to Qatar," Yemen coach Miroslav Soukup said.