Bầu Đức is determined to find Quang Hải and Công Phượng 2.0 for the Vietnamese national team.

Bầu Đức expects the Gia Lai U14 Festival to serve as a springboard for uncovering numerous young talents for Vietnamese football.

Gia Lai International U14 Football Festival 2026 is scheduled to take place from May 11 to 17 at Pleiku Stadium and Hàm Rồng Training Center. The tournament gathers 12 U14 teams from both domestic and international backgrounds, including strong Vietnamese representatives such as PVF, Sông Lam Nghệ An, Hà Nội FC, Trường Tươi Đồng Nai, and the host HAGL, along with many invited guests from Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Laos, and Malaysia.

The teams are divided into 3 groups, playing a single round-robin format, selecting the top two teams from each group and the two best-performing third-place teams to advance to the quarter-finals. The competition follows the 11-player field format, with a total prize value exceeding 40,000 USD (over 1 billion VND), where the champion team receives 20,000 USD.

Speaking at the press conference announcing the tournament on April 16 afternoon in Ho Chi Minh City, Đoàn Nguyên Đức emphasized the long-term direction for Vietnamese youth football. He shared: “I hope that with leading football ‘cradles’ and the support of VFF in organizing regular festival tournaments, Vietnamese football will continue to produce talents like Công Phượng, Quang Hải… to contribute to the nation.”

Reflecting on the establishment of the HAGL - Arsenal JMG Academy since 2007, Đoàn Nguyên Đức believes this was a foundational step aimed at training comprehensive players both in skills and culture. He affirmed that the academy model has played a crucial role in shaping many generations of quality players for Vietnamese football.

According to Bầu Đức, most of the talents in Vietnamese football have grown up from the domestic youth training system. Therefore, organizing a true festival will help create a regular competitive platform, thereby discovering more promising faces, while also spreading the youth football movement across the country.

He also expressed his hope that the tournament will be maintained annually with the partnership of VFF, becoming a nationally significant and impactful event. “I hope that with leading football ‘cradles’ and the support of VFF in organizing regular festival tournaments, Vietnamese football will continue to produce talents like Công Phượng, Quang Hải… to contribute to the nation”, he reiterated his expectations.