Japanese head coach forced to drop two more U19 Vietnam players ahead of AFF championship

U19 Vietnam must eliminate two additional players to finalize the 23-man roster for the 2026 ASEAN U19 Championship.

Following nearly a month of assembly and preparation, U19 Vietnam has set off for Indonesia to compete in the 2026 ASEAN U19 Championship, happening from June 1 to June 14 in Medan. This is seen as an important warm-up for the Japanese head coach Yutaka Ikeuchi and his squad as they prepare for the bigger objective: the 2027 AFC U20 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Ahead of the team's departure, the coaching staff carried out a last round of selection, trimming the roster from 30 to 25 players. Nevertheless, the squad is not yet set. As planned, Coach Yutaka Ikeuchi will keep evaluating his players' performance and physical condition, choosing the final 23 names before the first game.

This implies U19 Vietnam must part ways with an additional two players prior to embarking on their Indonesia campaign. Their opening match is scheduled for the afternoon of June 1, facing U19 East Timor. This opening fixture is crucial, as a positive outcome would boost the entire team's confidence in their bid to advance.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, head coach Yutaka Ikeuchi acknowledged that U19 Vietnam's preparations encountered numerous challenges. The packed calendar of domestic youth competitions hindered the assembly of players, and many born in 2008 were occupied with high school graduation exams. As a result, the squad was unable to bring together all its top talents as hoped.

Despite this, the entire squad continues to work hard on completing their final preparations. On the afternoon of May 29, U19 Vietnam held their initial practice in Medan after settling into their accommodation and recovering from the lengthy flight. The players quickly got back into rhythm with a relatively intense training regimen to regain their competitive feel ahead of the tournament's start.

The practice was conducted in fairly hot weather, with the mercury hovering around 32°C. Yet this posed no major issue, as during their camp in Hanoi, the players had regularly become accustomed to such conditions. In addition to technical and tactical drills and preserving ball touch, the coaching team emphasized suitable movement exercises to help the players shake off any sluggishness, acclimate swiftly to the new surroundings, and achieve peak form for their campaign in the 2026 Southeast Asian U19 Championship.