The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has finalised its updated schedule for U23 Vietnam national football squad, heading for SEA Games 27 in Myanmar, reported the CPV online newspaper.

Currently, the squad is staying at Hanoi Youth Training Centre. On November 18, players will move to Binh Duong province, which has similar weather conditions with Myanmar, for further physical and skills practice, and then return to Hanoi on December 1 to join with the Vietnamese sports delegation.

VFF has also officially confirmed Hoang Van Phuc as head coach of the squad. On 21, 24 and 27 November, U23 Vietnam is scheduled to play friendly matches with An Giang, Dong Tam Long An and Ho Chi Minh City teams.

The two important missions waiting for head coach Hoang Van Phuc at this time include finalising the roster of 22 students and announcing the main line-up for the most awaited coming matches.

With regard to injured players, 22 years-old centre back Thanh Hao from Binh Dinh province, who sustained an injury during the final match of the recent BTV Cup, is following a special treatment method. However, doctors said he is likely to be back in action in the next 3-4 days. Besides, fans need not worry about injuries of goalie Buu Ngoc and midfielder Manh Dung, as they are recovering quickly.

Vietnam will send a sports team of 750 athletes and officials to take part in the 27th Southeast Asian Games to be held from December 11 to 22 in Myanmar. The delegation will travel on three Vietnam Airlines charter flights directly to Nay Pyi Taw.

The first special aircraft departing on December 4 includes around 180 members, seeing a priority for national men’s football squad and other athletes from wushu, boxing, and pencak silat events, together with security officers (A83, C45) from the Ministry of Public Security.

The 519 Vietnamese athletes will compete in 30 out of 33 sports at the tournament, hoping to bring home at least 70-75 gold medals and ranking among the top three. At the previous SEA Games in Jakarta two years ago, Vietnam ranked third with 96 gold medals after the host Indonesia with 182 gold medals and Thailand with 109 golds.-VNA