U23 Vietnam leave for Dubai Cup 2022 in UAE
VOV.VN - The U23 Vietnam team comprising 28 players left Hanoi on March 19 evening for Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, for an international friendly tournament in late March.
The team will be coached by Lee Young Jin of the Republic of Korea who tested negative on March 19 after contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus several days ago.
Lee will be assisted by Ngo Tuan Vinh, a member of the coaching board, goalkeeper Nguyen Duc Canh and fitness coach Cedric Roger.
Korean expert Gong Oh Kyun and doctor Choi Ju Young will fly directly from the Republic of Korea to Dubai top support the team. Gong is likely to coach the U23 team after SEA Games 31 ends.
The Dubai Cup 2022 will take place from March 23 to March 29 with the participation of 10 teams, namely Iraq, Croatia, Uzbekistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Qatar, Thailand, Vietnam and hosts UAE.
The ten teams will compete in the play-off pairing format in Round 1 and Round 2. Based on the results of the two rounds, the teams will continue to be paired to compete in Round 3 to determine the winners.
Vietnam are scheduled to take on Iraq on March 23 in Round 1 and Croatia three days later in Round 2.
Round 3 will take place on March 29 with matches to be determined after the end of Round 2.
The Dubai Cup 2022 be a big test for the U23 Vietnam team in the lead up to the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) to be held in Vietnam in May and the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2022 to be held in Uzbekistan in June.