Coach Park Hang Seo has called up 48 players for a training camp to prepare for next year's Southeast Asian Games, where the U22 team will attempt to defend their crown.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

This is the second training session to prepare for the tournament set to be held in Viet Nam in November next year.

The Korean coach has stuck with more than half of the players from his first training session.

Players like defender Dang Van Toi and midfielder Le Van Xuan of Ha Noi FC, Tran Van Cong of Thong Linh Ha Tinh FC, Dang Van Lam of Song Lam Nghe An, Nguyen Trong Long of Pho Hien FC, striker Nham Manh Dung of Viettel, Le Minh Binh of Ba Ria Vung Tau, and Mai Xuan Quyet of Nam Dinh FC are new faces in the squad.

In addition, the national team has cancelled their training camp for the upcoming World Cup 2022 qualifiers because the matches slated for this autumn have been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Therefore, some young players of the senior team such as goalkeeper Nguyen Van Toan, defender Bui Hoang Viet Anh and midfielder Ly Cong Hoang Anh will attend the training camp with the U22 team.

Star defender Doan Van Hau will not attend the training camp as coach Park has said he wants to evaluate the improvement of the player after a year on the books of SC Heerenveen in the Netherlands.

Hau is a key player of the national team and the first Vietnamese footballer to play in the Netherlands and is on a different level from the rest of the U22, so it wouldn't be appropriate to call him up, coach Park said.

To ensure the prevention and control of COVID-19, the players will be in Ha Noi on August 16 to carry out coronavirus testing.

The team will have their first training session on the afternoon of August 18. The players will have 10 days to prove their worth to coach Park.

Source: VNA