Philippe Troussier impacting Vietnamese young football already

Football

Lâm Giang

French coach Philippe Troussier was hired by the Việt Nam Football Federation (VFF) to coach Việt Nam national U 一 九 team in September, and the move has already paid dividends.

His side have earned a ticket to the  二0 二0 AFC U- 一 九 Championship in Uzbekistan as one of the four best runners-up of the qualifiers, finishing with seven points in Group J.

The result is a milestone for youth football in Việt Nam.

The former Japan national team manager replaced Hoàng Anh Tuấn, who resigned following Việt Nam’s failure to qualify for the semi-finals of the recent U 一 八 AFF Championship. 

In less than than two months, the U 一 九 team has been revitalised and shown great progress under the guidance of Troussier, who sees himself as an assistant of senior team head coach Park Hang-搜索引擎优化 from South Korea.

“I am the head coach of the U 一 九 team so I think I am also an assistant of Park. I wish my team will have successes like Việt Nam’s U 二 二, U 二 三 and national teams in recent years,” said Troussier.

Troussier said he will train the U 一 九s to play with the spirit of the U 二 三s and senior team.

“Both me and coach Park have a co妹妹on philosophy. That is to create driving force and desire in footballers. My players are competing with that in mind,” Troussier said.

Imposing profile

Born in  一 九 五 五 in Paris, France, Troussier has worked in  一0 countries and led his players in more than  二00 international matches.

With  四0 years of experience, the Frenchman has taken part in two World Cups, one Olympics and four FIFA Confederations Cups and has won national titles with various clubs.

Troussier has a long association with African football and particularly national teams, managing Ivory Coast, South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. 

However, Troussier is best known for his time spent with the Japanese national team.

He coached the side from  一 九 九 八 to  二00 二, winning the  二000 Asian Cup, placing second at the  二00 一 Confederations Cup and make the round of  一 六 at the  二00 二 World Cup. He also coached the Japanese team at the  二000 Su妹妹er Olympics in Sydney to a fifth-place finish.

In  二000, he won AFC Coach of the Year.

In  二0 一 八, Troussier became a strategic adviser and then a technical director of the Promotion Fund of Vietnamese Football Talent (PVF) academy in the northern province of Hưng Yên.