Viet Nam’s U19 football team gathered in Ha Noi on July 15 to begin preparations for the upcoming Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) Under-19 Football Championship, according to the Viet Nam Football Federation.

Under the guidance of Coach Hoang Anh Tuan, the team of 28 young players selected from football training centres across the country will train for over a month at the national youth football training centre.

After the training period, Tuan will select the final squad of the 25 best players for the tournament, which will take place in Laos from August 22 to September 4.

According to drawing results, Viet Nam is in Group B alongside Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Timor-Leste.

Group A features Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand and the host Laos.

Viet Nam will play its opening game against Timor-Leste on August 25.

The AFF U19 Youth Championship was launched in 2005; Viet Nam won the annual event in 2007 when it was the host nation.

(Source: VNA)