Vietnam's national U23 football team is scheduled to play against major players in the region as well as those from one of the world's strongest football clubs, FC Barcelona, at a tournament held to prepare them for the Asian Games in August.
The exhibition tournament will be held at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi between August 3-7 with the participation of the U23 teams from Oman, Uzbekistan and the B team of Barcelona, Spain. The game will be the second of Barcelona B in Vietnam. They first came for another exhibition game in 2005 when they lost 0-1 to Vietnam national team.
Uzbekistan’s U23 team was crowned the champion of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship in China last January after defeating the Vietnamese players at the final match under heavy blizzards. Finishing as runner-up, Vietnam’s U23 won the fair-play prize and was praised across Southeast Asia for their fighting spirit.
Vietnamese football fans are expecting to go through the excitement again this August.
The exhibition tournament is considered a big test for Vietnam’s U23 before Asian Games, also known as Asiad, as they will face strong and quality opponents from other countries. Head coach Park Hang-seo is currently making selections for the official squad list.
Take a look back at their journey at the AFC Championship here.