Two talented 12-year-old football enthusiasts, Nguyen Trong Tuan and Pham Nguyen Quoc Trung, will leave for Russia on June 8 to participate in the 6th Gazprom Football for Friendship International Program, or F4R program.
The boys, both from Nghe An Province in central Vietnam, will be joined in Moscow by peers from countries around the world.
Tuan will play as a defender for one of the 32 teams that will compete in the annual friendly tournament.
The young lad, who started playing football when he was 9, currently plays for the Under 13 team of Song Lam Nghe An club.
For the F4F program, the young footballer will undergo a three-day training camp in Moscow so as to get used to the playing conditions and to practice with this team.
Trung, meanwhile, will be a young journalist, covering both local and global activities of the program as part of the International Children's Press Center, a hub for budding sports scribes as they gather information, make reports, write news articles and prepare material on the initiatives implemented as part of the F4F program.
The two youngsters will also participate in the Sixth Football for Friendship International Children's Forum, which will not only provide them an opportunity to meet and share experiences with peers from other countries, but also discuss issues of interest with famous footballers, journalists and other public figures.
The sixth season of the F4F program will conclude with a visit by the participating children to the opening ceremony and the first match of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.
Since 2013, Gazprom, Russia’s energy leading firm, has been organizing the international Football for Friendship program for children. The program seeks to promote the key values of friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion and honor.
The program chooses participants among young boys and girls between 12 and 14. Over the last five years, more than 3,700 people have participated in the program.
Football for Friendship is supported by FIFA, UEFA, International Olympic Committee, football federations of various countries, international children's charity funds, and the world's leading football clubs.