U23 Vietnam

VAR technology is historic in V.League

At V.League 2023, VAR (Video Assistant Referee) technology is used for the first time (in the last 5 matches of the season). This is a historic step forward for Vietnamese football in general and V-League in particular.

The application of modern technology from around the world helps referees make accurate decisions, increasing transparency for competitions on the field.

Entering 2024, VAR is used more widely in matches. Currently, at least 4 stadiums use VAR in each round. VPF Company aims to apply VAR at all V.League stadiums, after being licensed and supported by FIFA.

VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan emphasized the importance of VAR technology to contribute to improving the quality of V.League: “When VAR is applied to the competition system, it will help make matches more fair and high quality.” The tournament is also more advanced.

VAR is a breakthrough in the development of world football. Since its first official application since the 2018 World Cup in Russia, VAR has received high praise from experts as well as policymakers. Reality shows that even with VAR, referees can still make mistakes.

Therefore, human issues are the most important. Recently, FIFA has organized very rigorous training, practice, and testing sessions with high criteria to select suitable personnel to meet the requirements of this new technology. One thing is for sure, VAR will contribute to improving the quality of V.League,” the head of VFF emphasized.

Meanwhile, VPF Chairman Tran Anh Tu said that the two issues of personnel and equipment are the biggest difficulties. VFF and VPF are closely coordinating to use VAR technology in accordance with FIFA standards.

Not only VAR, after more than 20 years of taking place in a single year, V.League 2023-24 becomes the first season that Vietnamese football applies organization over 2 years, with a synchronous time frame for the competition system. tournament of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for club level.

“Adjusting and synchronizing the player transfer market between Asia and Europe helps AFC member clubs have more opportunities to recruit quality players and coaches while also paving the way for Asian players to enter the world.” world,” said Mr. Nguyen Minh Ngoc – General Director of VPF.

The change is in accordance with the development requirements of the football industry. In addition, this is also a step in sync with the continent’s trend. Head coach Philippe Troussier, when taking office at the Vietnam team, emphasized that the continuity and integrity of the professional tournament system is the true foundation of a national team.

Positive changes in the organization of Vietnamese professional football tournaments, especially V.League, are the “springboard” to raise the level of national teams.

Vietnam team and the World Cup dream

In 2023, for the first time, Vietnamese football will appear on the World Cup playground. The Vietnamese women’s team not only creates a very proud image, but is also a boost to their colleagues in the Vietnamese national team.

At the 2023 VFF Annual Congress, VFF said it will focus on many goals in 2024, including continuing to implement the “Project for developing Vietnamese football towards the 2026-2030 World Cup”, “Project developing football movement in the period 2020-2030”, “Target program to develop resources to participate in the 2030 World Cup finals, Asian Games 2027, 2031 and Olympics 2008, 2032″…

To achieve these goals, from the beginning of 2023, after taking the captain’s chair, coach Philippe Troussier has recruited nearly 100 players, with special focus on young faces because these are the the hopes of Vietnamese football in the future.

In fact, in friendly matches and especially the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, Mr. Philippe Troussier has rejuvenated the force in the Vietnam national team. Young players such as: Dinh Bac, Van Cuong, Van Khang, Phan Tuan Tai, Minh Trong… were given the opportunity to play for the Vietnam national team and improve day by day.

In 2024, Vietnam National Team will continue to participate in the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup with the goal of reaching the 3rd qualifying round, in addition to the Asian Cup, AFF Cup…

With young teams, notably U23 Vietnam will participate in the Asian finals. According to the draw results, coach Philippe Troussier’s team is in Group D with the teams Uzbekistan, Malaysia and Kuwait.

This is the 5th time U23 Vietnam has participated in the U23 Asian finals, showing that Vietnamese youth football is invested in the right direction. But to recreate a miracle like 2018 is not simple, because youth football on the continent has made strong progress in recent years, while Vietnam’s U23 group does not have many outstanding faces.

This is also the reason for coach Philippe Troussier to rejuvenate the Vietnam national team. The French coach said that with such continuous preparation and accumulation, the players have confidence and a certain foundation to be ready to face the upcoming challenges.

In addition to the national team and U23 Vietnam, VFF continues to invest in the development of youth football and the system of youth tournaments (U ages); Deploy solutions to improve the quality of national women’s soccer tournaments; investing in the futsal team for the third time participating in the World Cup; Train coaches, hire experts…

All of the above work helps Vietnamese football have a solid base to step closer to the World Cup dream.