Brazilian Roland assigned to lead U16 team

Football

Cristiano Roland will take charge of the national U16 team ahead of the 2025 AFC U17 Cup. Photo of Cristiano Roland

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Football Federation (VFF) has appointed Cristiano Roland as head coach of the national U16 team, hopeful that he will help Việt Nam show winning form at the upcoming 2025 AFC U17 Cup’s qualification.

The Brazilian expert replaces coach Trần Minh Chiến, who resigned last week after the team failed to reach its target at the regional tournament in Indonesia.

The 47-year-old is a familiar face with players as he was Chiến’s assistant previously. Roland played for Hà Nội T&T (now Hà Nội FC) in 2008 and 2009-13. He took the V.League 1 trophy in 2010 and 2013 and the Super Cup in 2010.

Roland will begin his job after finishing his contract with the Hà Nội club at the National U17 Football Championship, which was playing in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province before all tournaments were suspended for the national mourning of Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng.

Roland will meet his team early August, after which they will have a friendly four-side tournament in China and an intensive training course in Japan.

The Asian competition will be held in October.

The national U19 team play at the regional championship. — Photo VFF

In other news, Việt Nam have been unexpectedly ousted from the Southeast Asian U19 Championship, although they have not finished the group round.

After two matches, Việt Nam took only one point with a negative goal difference, drawing Myanmar 1-1 and losing 2-6 to Australia.

A last match against Laos on July 24 would have been pointless since, even if they had won, Việt Nam would not have made it into the group of best second-placed teams who could qualify for the knock-out stage.

Explaining his team’s poor performance, coach Hứa Hiền Vinh attributed to their lack of experience to being limited in both local and international tournaments, where they could sharpen their technique and mental strength.

After the regional event, Vietnamese players will return home and prepare for the 2025 AFC U20 Cup’s qualification in September. — VNS