Postponing the 2023 Panda Cup friendly tournament, U22 Vietnam still maintains the training schedule

The plan to organize the Panda Cup 2023 international friendly tournament in June could not take place, causing U22 Vietnam to miss the opportunity to compete with strong opponents, including host China.

Hoãn giải giao hữu Panda Cup 2023, U22 Việt Nam vẫn giữ nguyên lịch tập trung

Coach Philippe Troussier (blue shirt) and his U22 Vietnam players on the training ground. (Source: VFF)

According to the original plan, VFF accepted to send the Vietnam U22 team to participate in the Panda Cup 2023 international friendly tournament held in Chengdu (China), from June 14-18, during FIFA Days.

This tournament has the participation of 4 U22 teams, including host China, Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. This is an important preparation step for the teams before participating in the 2024 U23 Asian qualifiers and especially the 19th Asian Games taking place next September.

However, according to information sent to VFF by the Chinese Football Association, due to the current maintenance and repair work at the host stadium, the 2023 Panda Cup cannot be held as originally planned.

The organizers said that this tournament will be moved to another suitable time based on the remaining FIFA Days schedule of 2023.

Although the Panda Cup 2023 was postponed, U22 Vietnam still maintained its training schedule with the national team during FIFA Days next June.

This is necessary for coach Philippe Troussier and his coaching staff to continue to check and evaluate the team's strength in preparation for the 2024 U23 Asian qualifiers.

Besides, VFF is also implementing a plan to find suitable competition partners to serve the professional work of U22 Vietnam during this training period.

Meanwhile, for the Vietnamese team, VFF has recently officially finalized the plan to play a friendly match with the Hong Kong team (China) on June 15, at Lach Tray Stadium ( Hai Phong ). This is the official debut of coach Philippe Troussier with the national team since signing a contract with VFF.

Source