Vietnam Olympic quietly returned home after failure at ASIAD 19

On the evening of September 26, the Vietnamese Olympic team arrived at Noi Bai airport after a long flight from China, ending their journey at the 19th ASIAD. General Secretary of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Duong Nghiep Khoi went to the airport to welcome and encourage the whole team.

Vietnam Olympic team is not expected to achieve high results at ASIAD 19. This is the tournament where coach Hoang Anh Tuan uses the U20 team as the core. They performed very well in the 2023 U20 Asian finals. However, ASIAD 19 is clearly a playground beyond the reach of players who are too young in both experience and skills.

"As head coach, I take responsibility for the failure of the Vietnam Olympic team. Obviously, at this time, in addition to the role of the coaching staff, the quality of our young players, with an average age of 20.3, is still far behind the top teams in the continent, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia," coach Hoang Anh Tuan shared after the tournament.

In this year's tournament, Vietnam Olympic only had one victory against the weakest team in the group, Mongolia Olympic. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team lost 0-4 to Iran Olympic and 1-3 to Saudi Arabia Olympic. Vietnam Olympic ranked 3rd but did not have a good enough result compared to the 3rd ranked teams in the other groups and was eliminated.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: "I thank the VFF leadership for creating all conditions to support me and many domestic coaches to serve the long-term strategic vision of Vietnamese football development. For Vietnamese football to go far, we must continue to put our trust in young players and commit to taking responsibility when the results are not as expected."

After the 19th Asian Games, the players will return to their clubs to prepare for the new season. Some outstanding players may be called up to the national team during the upcoming FIFA Days in October.