Selecting a super-talented Japanese expert as the deputy coach of U.17 Vietnam

U.17 Vietnam has a Japanese 'deputy general'

VFF decided to add expert Yutaka Ikeuchi (Japan) to the coaching staff of Vietnam U17 team to participate in the 2025 AFC U17 Championship. Mr. Ikeuchi will take on the role of technical advisor, responsible for providing professional support to head coach Cristiano Roland.

Mr. Yutaka Ikeuchi was born in 1961 in Aichi, Japan. After graduating from Aichi High School in 1980, he started his football career at Toyota Industries Club. From 1980 to 1996, he played for Fujita Club (Shonan Bellmare) and had a stint with the Japanese national team from 1981 to 1985. Before that, he was also a member of the Japanese national high school selection team and the Japanese U.20 team.

Mr. Yukata Ikeuchi will act as technical advisor for U.17 Vietnam.

After finishing his playing career, Mr. Ikeuchi turned to coaching and has made many important contributions to Japanese football. He has served as head coach of Fujita Women's Club, coach of Nagoya Grampus Eight's children's and youth teams, coach of Nagoya Grampus Eight Club as well as general manager of Monolith Football Club.

From 2003 to 2023, Mr. Ikeuchi was a lecturer at the Japan Football Association (JFA) and participated in the training of many generations of young players. He also served as Director of the JFA Men's Football Academy and Head Coach of the Japan National Men's U.15, U.16, and U.17 teams. Most recently, he was Head Coach of the JFA Fukushima Academy U.15 Team and Director of Wyvern Football Club.

Mr. Ikeuchi holds an "S" coaching license from the Japan Football Association (JFA) and has held many important positions in the JFA, including JFA Tokai Prefectural Coach, JFA Youth Training Deputy Director, and JFA Youth Training Director.

He is also a member of the JFA Technical Committee and Women's Football Committee. With over 20 years of teaching experience, Mr. Ikeuchi has trained many generations of young players and is an instructor for the JFA C, B, A and S (Pro) classes. He was also an instructor for the U.15 A class.

U.17 Vietnam returns in March

With the decision to choose Mr. Yutaka Ikeuchi as the technical supervisor of the Vietnam U.17 team, VFF hopes that this Japanese strategist will coordinate with the Vietnam U.17 coaching staff to build advanced training methods and achieve good results at the 2025 U.17 Asian Cup.

Will Mr. Yukata (fifth from right) help U.17 Vietnam progress?

This is the tournament where U.17 Vietnam has the opportunity to compete for a place in the U.17 World Cup 2025, after FIFA decided to increase the number of participating teams from 24 to 48, of which Asia has up to 8 places to participate.

According to the plan, the 2025 AFC U17 Championship finals will take place from April 3 to April 20 in Saudi Arabia. According to the draw results, Vietnam U17 will face a huge challenge when they are in a group with the reigning champion Japan U17, Australia U17 (a team that has reached the semi-finals 3 times) and UAE U17, a team in the 4th seed group but has also been in good form recently.

To prepare for the 2025 U17 Asian Cup, U.17 Vietnam is expected to gather for training in early March.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nuoc-co-tao-bao-cua-vff-chon-chuyen-gia-nhat-ban-sieu-gioi-lam-pho-tuong-u17-viet-nam-185250212141157006.htm