"The VFF has agreed to send the U22 team to France to attend the friendlytournament at the invitation of the French Football Federation. At present, thecoaching staff for the U22 team going to the French event has not set upyet. Coach Park Hang-seo has the right to lead the team to the tournament orgive it to his assistants,” said Tran Quoc Tuan, VFF Vice Chairman.
According to Tuan, this is a very good opportunity for U22 Vietnam to honetheir skills and gain experience by playing strong opponents at the event toprepare for the campaign to defend their SEA Games gold medal at the Games tobe held in Vietnam next year.
It will also help them prepare for the upcoming qualifying round of the AFC U23Championship 2021.
The Toulon Tournament is considered a miniature World Cup for young teams andthe likes of Thierry Henry of France, Manuel Rui Costa ofPortugal and Alan Shearer of England have played in the past.
There are 10 teams confirmed to participate in the event including Japan,Australia, Vietnam, DR Congo, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Mexico, England, France,and Romania.
The organisers are waiting for two more teams to confirm to divide the 12 teamsinto three groups, competing in a round-robin format to choose three groupwinners and the best second-placed team to enter the semi-finals.
Previously, the tournament was expected to take place in June but due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed until the end of the year.
Tuan said that depending on the situation of the pandemic, the VFF andcoach Park will give a detailed plan to compete in the tournament.
Repeated postponements of international matches in 2020 have created abusy schedule for the Republic of Korean coach and his players in2021.
Recently, the ASEAN Football Federation set the time to hold the AFF Cup 2020from April 11 to May 8, 2021.
According to the VFF, Vietnamese teams have at least five summons to preparefor international matches next year.
In the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia, Vietnam top GroupG and have only three matches more with Malaysia, Indonesia and the UAE.
If they make it to the third qualifying round and reach the AFF Cup 2020 final,Vietnam’s senior team will have about 20 matches in 2021.
For the U22 team, 2021 has the AFC U23 Championship’s qualifying round onOctober 23 - 31 and the SEA Games 31 which will take place from November 21 toDecember 2./.