Concerns about the U.21 playground when the match schedule overlaps with the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament

U.23 team gathers, U.21 "gives up" troops

For a long time, the qualifying round and the final round of the national U.21 tournament that takes place every year have never gathered 100% of the best players of the teams. Sometimes it is because the players are still in their age group and are overloaded after a long national championship, sometimes it is because of constant injuries. But the most worrying thing is that the domestic tournament schedule is always affected by other tournaments of the same age group in the region. So every time the tournament takes place, it is certain that the future young squad of the country's football will not be able to compete fully.

- Ảnh 1. — Ngoc My (left), the player who scored the most goals in the U.21 tournament in 2024 and the U.19 champion in 2023

This time, the qualifying round and the final round of the national U.21 tournament are scheduled from July 4 to 14 and July 19 to 30. During this time, the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament is scheduled from July 15 to 30 in Indonesia. The U.23 Vietnam team is required to participate because this is an important playground, a measure of preparation for the qualifying round of the U.23 Asia tournament in 2026 (Group C hosted by VFF in Viet Tri, Phu Tho from September 3 to September 9, 2025). Then there is the 33rd SEA Games at the end of the year in Thailand. Therefore, coach Kim Sang-sik may have to call up the U.23 Vietnam team early in early July, which also means that many U.21 teams are forced to create opportunities for their players to join the national team, accepting to "give up" their players to the U.23 national team.

- Ảnh 2. — The North Central derby between U.21 SLNA and Thanh Hoa is always heated.

There were times when many clubs complained about this because it was all about performance. If the team lost too many players to the national team, leading to inconsistent results, it would affect the training brand and investment costs. Therefore, VFF had to "headache" many times to find a solution to the problem of how to harmonize the interests of the country and the club, avoiding being too affected.

- Ảnh 3. — In the 2024 U.21 semi-final, PVF (right) defeated Thanh Hoa

Still major centers of contention

28 teams will be divided into 6 groups (2 groups of 4 teams and 4 groups of 5 teams) to compete in a round robin at Viettel Center, PVF, HAGL, Lam Dong, Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria - Vung Tau . The 6 first-placed teams and 5 second-placed teams from the groups with the best results will advance to the final round. The 12th spot will belong to the home team or the second-placed team from the remaining group in case the home team of the final round is among the 11 teams that have previously won the spot.

The special feature is that this year, the two "stoves" PVF and HAGL have at least 2 teams participating. If PVF has PVF-CAND competing in group A and the host team of group B (PVF), HAGL also has a host team in group C and team HAGL 2 competing in group D in Lam Dong. Not to mention the U.21 Be Cong 26 Gia Lai team competing in Pleiku. Most of the training centers with a long history are present in the U.21 tournament, but there are also some clubs that have participated in professional tournaments (V-League and first division) for a long time but still do not have a team participating. That is also a painful thing that VFF and VPF need to have strict regulations and a drastic strategy to raise the level of the club in the future.

HAGL is the current U.21 champion after 3 consecutive wins by 11m penalty kicks, but most of the young players who have won the title have now entered the professional arena. Therefore, it will not be easy for the mountain town team to defend their title. PVF, although ranked second, has an abundant and quality training source, and won the U.19 championship at the beginning of the year, so they are still highly appreciated. Besides, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An are also strong enough to go to the final match. The Thanh team was ranked third last year, while SLNA recently won the U.19 runner-up. They will be 2 significant forces.

All hopes are on the two capital teams with strong forces, The Cong Viettel and Hanoi. These are two strong teams that have won the U.21 championship many times before but surprisingly have not had luck in recent tournaments. The Cong Viettel lost in the quarterfinals to Quang Nam last year, and earlier this year also stopped in the U.19 quarterfinals in Ba Ria - Vung Tau. Meanwhile, Hanoi, the 6-time U.21 champion, the most of all clubs, stumbled when they lost to HAGL in the U.21 quarterfinals in 2024 and were absent from the knockout round when they failed to get past the U.19 group stage in 2025. Hopefully this time, the two coaches Dang Thanh Phuong and Duong Hong Son will help their team rise.

- Ảnh 6. — Captain Huu Trong (23) leads U.21 Ho Chi Minh City

Of the remaining teams, only Dong Thap under coach Bui Van Dong was notable, having reached the U.19 semi-finals earlier this year. In addition, Thong Nhat Sports Center under coach Lu Dinh Tuan can make an impression, but it will not be easy to get into the medal group.

- Ảnh 7. — U.21 Dong Thap (red shirt) is determined to be in the final round.

List of 6 competition groups: Group A (competing at Viettel, 4 teams) has The Cong Viettel, Hanoi, Hoai Duc, PVF CAND. Group B (competing at PVF, 5 teams): PVF, SLNA, Thanh Hoa, Hanoi Police, Dao Ha Center. Group C (competing at Pleiku, 4 teams): HAGL 1, Bet Tong 26 Gia Lai, Hue and Da Nang. Group D (competing at Lam Dong, 5 teams): Lam Dong, Binh Dinh, Dak Lak, Quang Nam, HAGL 2. Group E (competing at Thanh Long Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, 5 teams) has Thong Nhat Sports Center, An Giang, Dong Thap, Khanh Hoa and Vinh Long. Group F (competing at Ba Ria - Vung Tau, 5 teams): Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh and Long An.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/noi-lo-san-choi-u21-khi-lich-dau-trung-voi-giai-u23-dong-nam-a-185250619145444716.htm