Coach Henrique Calisto.

According to this plan, the national team will convene for the first time on May 19, with half of the players being U23 players. After that, the national squad and the U-23 team will gather at the same time for subsequent gatherings.

The period from September to November will be the busiest time for both teams and for the coach as well.

According to the Coaching Council, it is risky to convene the two teams at the same time because it will be difficult for Calisto to work with two teams at once. This year, the U-23 has to concentrate its strength for the SEA Games while the national squad aims to enter the final of the Asia Cup 2011.

Calisto’s plan shows that the U23 and the national squad will have the same coaching board and the same chief coach. The Coaching Council didn’t agree, saying that one coaching board is unable to take care of two teams.

The Coaching Council also questioned the absence of coach Mai Duc Chung from the coaching board of U23 team. Last year Chung led U22 Vietnam (the core of this year’s U23) to the championship of the Merdeka Cup 2008.

The Coaching Council will directly question Calisto about his plan on March 4.

Calisto spoke with the local media about his plan.

Could you tell us the major contents of your meeting with VFF about the plans for national teams in 2009?

We sat together to work out the plans for the national squad and the U23 team at the upcoming qualifier round of Asian Cup 2011 and SEA Games 2009. We will make adjustments while we implement the plan based on the actual situation.

In May 2009, the national squad will convene with around 30 players, including U23 footballers. After a short time of practice, I will choose the official team for a friendly match against the Bahrain team on May 31.

In early September, U23 will take a 10-day training tour abroad.

In October, the national team will take part in the HCM City Cup. In November, the U23 team will join the VFF Cup while the national squad will play two matches in the qualifier round of the Asian Cup 2011. In December, U23 will attend SEA Games 2009.

We also plan to arrange one or two friendly matches against overseas clubs for the national squad and send the U23 team to the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia.

We know that you will not call for any player of Binh Duong or Hanoi.ACB clubs for the gathering of the national team in May, why?

Binh Duong and Hanoi. ACB will participate in AFC Cup 2009 in May so VFF decided to not call up any player from the two clubs.

If the national team attends official tournaments, we will have to call for the best players but the team will only play friendly matches then so we don’t need to do so.

How many players do you plan to call for this gathering?

I’m considering choosing some new players for the national squad and U23 team but I haven’t made a final decision yet.

On this occasion, I would like to say that I didn’t say that I would change the “blood” of the national team or I would choose a massive number of new players for the team as some newspapers reported.

Do you feel heavy pressure?

It is not accurate to call it pressure because pressure only comes when we have tournaments. At this moment, I only see that we need to be more responsible, because we are the current Southeast Asian champion. We have to be more careful and serious.

VietNamNet/VNE/TP