Dutch-Vietnamese midfielder impresses

U.17 Vietnam won resoundingly

On the afternoon of March 5, U.17 Vietnam had a practice match to test personnel and playing style against the "blue team" U.17 PVF. This was also the team's first practice match since gathering all its players at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center.

In order to serve the coaching staff's expertise, the match is divided into 3 halves, each 30 minutes long, thereby creating favorable conditions for tactical testing as well as team formation for the 34 summoned players.

U.17 Vietnam (red shirt) beat U.17 PVF 3-0

As a result, U.17 Vietnam won with a score of 3-0, after goals from Duc Nhat (first half), Anh Kiet and Hong Phong (third half). In this match, the new Vietnamese-American player Thomas Mai Veereen had the opportunity to show his ability for most of the first half and showed great effort and determination.

Evaluating after the match, coach Cristiano Roland said that U.17 Vietnam had only had 2 days of full training, so there were still many things that needed to be improved compared to the goals set by the coaching staff. The force also had new players who were gathering for the first time, so the team's cohesion was not good.

"Practice matches like today are very important, helping U.17 Vietnam create a competitive spirit, as well as helping the coaching staff have more perspectives on the team and what needs to be improved. The players need matches like this to improve," said coach Roland.

U.17 Vietnam will help new overseas Vietnamese recruits integrate

Coach Roland affirmed that opportunities are open to all players and the coaching staff will select those who best meet the requirements to participate in the 2025 AFC U17 finals.

Thomas Mai Veereen (number 33) played aggressively and tried hard to score points with the coaching staff.

"We want all players to have the opportunity to compete in training matches like this. Not only Thomas Mai Veeren, but any player who joins the national team for the first time must go through an integration period. On the coaching staff's side, we try to motivate and help the players integrate into the team early, as well as understand the requirements and ideas from the coaching staff. After that process, the players who adapt and respond best will be retained," coach Roland emphasized.

In the 2025 AFC U17 Championship finals, Vietnam U17 is in a group with Japan U17, Australia U17 and UAE U17. Coach Roland said that all three opponents of Vietnam U17 are very strong. However, similar to the strategy in the qualifying round, the whole team will try to focus on achieving the goal in each match.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u17-viet-nam-thang-dam-quan-xanh-quoc-noi-tien-ve-viet-kieu-ha-lan-gay-an-tuong-185250305190557413.htm