Nguyen Cong Khe, tournament organizing committee chief, at Friday’s press conference ahead of the kickoff of the 2nd International U.21 Football Tournament Thanh Nien Newspaper Cup 2008.

Thanh Nien newspaper will go all out to improve football in Vietnam, the chief organizer of the 2nd International U.21 Football Tournament Thanh Nien Newspaper Cup 2008 vowed Friday, ahead of today’s kick off.

“Thanh Nien has just successfully organized the 12th Thanh Nien National Football Championship in the central province of Binh Dinh - a tournament appraised by football experts as the best tournament ever,” Khe said.

“Now, the organizers are very pleased with the strongest teams sent from Iran, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore to the 2nd International Football Tournament sponsored by Thanh Nien. The strong support from international teams promises an exciting competition ahead with spectacular matches.”

Khe thanked the people and leaders of Thua Thien-Hue Province, as well as the national media and sponsors, for their support.

Quoting Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) President Nguyen Tro’ng Hy, Khe said this year’s U.21 football tournament could be considered the preliminary test for next year’s 25th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos.

SEA teams see this competition as an important opportunity for them to prepare for the upcoming SEA Games.

It will be a bit different from last year’s event as the leading Asian team, Iran, will test all SEA players.

Iranian team chief Alireza Taghipour thanked the organizers, saying: “We were lucky to be invited to this event. This competition is very important for us because Iran’s young players have a chance to compete with five different opponents.”

“This is a good test for our team before Iran starts the Asian U.19 finals to take place in Saudi Arabia,” Taghipour said.

In his speech, Thua Thien-Hue Province People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ngo Hoa said, “Hue is honored to organize the 2nd International Thanh Nien newspaper Cup 2008.”

“This is a big sporting event for the people of Thua Thien-Hue. Lots of fans in the land of the ancient citadel are eager to watch the tournament. We will try to make it a successful competition,” Hoa said.

In terms of technical concerns, VFF General Secretary said the U.21 tournament was very exciting because the young footballers always played with all their heart and soul without the interference of negative factors such as match fixing.

Later in the conference, reporter Tuong The from Tien Phong newspaper asked: “We think it was hard for the organizers to get sponsorship. Would it affect the quality of the tournament?”

On behalf of the organizers, Khe said: “Despite the economic problems Vietnam has had this year, Thanh Nien succeeded in getting support from different businesspeople and agencies who contributed to the development of youth football in Vietnam.”

“When the Vietnamese economy recovers next year, Thanh Nien will cooperate with VFF to invite strong teams from Europe or South America to compete at the International U.21 Thanh Nien Cup, which will get bigger and bigger in scale and quality,” Khe said.

“Whatever situation we are in, Thanh Nien will always try to invite highly-ranked teams to play to create a chance for Vietnamese young players to improve. Thanh Nien will do our best for the development of Vietnamese football,” Khe said.

Reported by Quang Huy