Official: Vietnam appoints Brazilian head coach for Asian tournament

Coach Cristiano Roland continues to serve as head coach of the Vietnam U17 national team at the 2026 AFC U17 Championship.

According to the latest announcement from Hanoi Youth Football Club, coach Cristiano Roland will continue to hold the position of head coach for the Vietnam U17 team during the first training camp of 2026, aiming for two important tournaments: the 2026 Southeast Asian U17 Championship and the 2026 AFC U17 Championship Finals.

This decision is entirely deserved after what the Brazilian strategist demonstrated with the Vietnam youth team during the qualifiers. Previously, under the guidance of Coach Roland, the Vietnam U17 team performed extremely impressively, winning all five matches in the group stage, scoring up to 30 goals and conceding none.

This achievement allowed Vietnam U17 to conclude the qualifiers as Group C winners, thereby securing a convincing ticket to the 2026 AFC U17 Championship Finals. Not only achieving effective results, the team also showed stability in their playing style, good organizational ability, and a highly disciplined competitive spirit.

Also according to the announcement from Hanoi Youth Football Club, besides head coach Cristiano Roland, the Capital's youth team will have several other members participating in this training camp. Specifically, two assistants Nguyen Dai Dong and Le Sy Phuong continue to accompany the coaching staff.

Additionally, regarding players, Hanoi Youth Football Center contributes a number of notable faces including: goalkeeper Chu Ba Huan; defenders Tran Hoang Viet, Nguyen Khac Minh Duc; midfielders Dao Quy Vuong, Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc and forward Tran Manh Quan.

According to the plan, the members of Vietnam U17 will assemble at the Vietnam Football Federation from April 1 to May 23, 2026 in Hanoi to prepare for the 2026 Southeast Asian U17 Championship (from April 11 to April 24, 2026) and the 2026 AFC U17 Championship Finals (from May 5 to May 23, 2026).