Coach Guillaume Graechen confirmed that the U19 team is determined to be part of the U20 World Cup at the press conference before the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship, which will kick-off in Myanmar on October 9.
Vietnamese team practices with coach Graechen
In order to earn a ticket to the 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup, Vietnam must get into semi-finals. But first they must win the group stage, as the U19 national team was grouped with strong teams including China, Japan and South Korea.
At the conference, Graechen said their getting a place in the AFC U-19 Championship is the ticket to U20 World Cup. Being grouped with strong teams will bring challenges, but he is confident the team can deal with the pressure. Graechen said that he knows the style of the Japanese team and has researched some of the Chinese team's matches. However, he has little information about South Korea.
Kim Sang Ho, coach of South Korean team, said that he did not know much about Vietnamese team either, so the match might not be easy. In addition, South Korea is in the position of defending their championship.
Coach Suzuki Masakazu of Japan said that they do understand the Vietnamese team because they have played several matches already.
The Chinese coach Zheng Xiong expressed great respect for the teams of Japan and South Korea.
