NÓNG: Two overseas Vietnamese players called up to U23 Vietnam

The U23 Vietnam team has just announced a list of 30 players for training camp to prepare for the CFA Team China 2026 international friendly tournament, notably featuring two overseas Vietnamese players: Vadim Nguyen and Tran Thanh Trung.

According to the plan, U23 Vietnam will assemble in Hanoi from March 17 before traveling to China to participate in the CFA Team China – Xi'an 2026 tournament, held from March 25 to March 31. This year's tournament includes four teams: U23 Vietnam, U23 China, U23 Thailand, and U23 North Korea. The teams will play a single round-robin format to determine the final rankings.

In this training camp list, midfielder Vadim Nguyen is a figure receiving considerable attention. The player born in 2005 has a Vietnamese father and a Russian mother, developed from the training academy of FC Rostov. With a height of 1.75m, Vadim can flexibly play as a central midfielder or a winger.

The information about Vadim Nguyen's call-up has been confirmed by SHB Da Nang Club. Besides this overseas Vietnamese midfielder, the Han River team also has three other players included in the U23 Vietnam list: Mai Quoc Tu, Le Nguyen Van Tho, and Nguyen Trung Nguyen.

Before Vadim Nguyen, Tran Thanh Trung is the first overseas Vietnamese player called up to U23 Vietnam in this training camp session. The midfielder born in 2005 currently plays for Ninh Binh Club and has shown clear progress this season. Thanh Trung has played 13 matches across all competitions for the ancient capital team, scoring 1 goal and contributing 2 assists.

Ninh Binh Club also confirmed that three of its players will join the U23 Vietnam training camp: Tran Thanh Trung, Le Van Thuan, and Nguyen Le Phat after the National Cup quarter-final match against PVF-CAND. Among them, Van Thuan and Le Phat are familiar faces who have previously played in SEA Games and AFC U23 Championship finals, while Thanh Trung will have his first opportunity to showcase himself in the youth national team jersey.

This training camp session for U23 Vietnam also marks an important preparatory step for long-term goals, particularly for men's football at the Asian Games 2026. Due to coinciding with FIFA Days for the national team, head coach Kim Sang-sik has assigned the task of leading U23 Vietnam to assistant coach Dinh Hong Vinh in the role of acting head coach.

The inclusion of the two overseas Vietnamese players Vadim Nguyen and Tran Thanh Trung is expected to bring additional competition to the U23 Vietnam squad, while also opening up new options for the coaching staff in the process of building a young team towards major tournaments in the future.