Their number will be whittled down to 20 by Monday, when they will be formally registered for the October 9-18 tournament.

Binh Duong’s U21 coach Tran Tan Thong will coach the squad with assistance from Truong Viet Hoang, coach of T&T Hanoi’s U21 team, and Bui Thong Tan, assistant coach of Da Nang.

Dang Tran Chinh, coach of First Division team HCMC Club, will be the squad’s technical manager.

The Asian Football Confederation is sending four foreign referees and one supervisor to officiate at the tournament, the Vietnam Football Federation announced on Monday.

They are referees Krishnan S/O Ramachandran of Malaysia and Shahbuddin Mohamed Hadimin of Brunei, assistant referees Xaypasenth Phongsanith of Laos and Tuy Vichika of Cambodia, and supervisor Zainal Abidin Bin Yaacob of Malaysia.

Vietnam will supply two FIFA-certified referees, Duong Van Hien and Dang Thanh Ha, two FIFA-certified assistant referees, Nguyen Ngoc Ha and Nguyen Hoang Minh, and one supervisor, Nguyen Minh Ngoc.

The officials are scheduled to show up in Binh Duong on Wednesday.

The other teams in the third International Under-21 Football Tournament are Iran, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Thailand.

Like the national event, it will be held in Binh Duong Province and sponsored by Thanh Nien.

A talent scout from the Vietnam Football Federation will watch all the matches and suggest some names for Vietnam’s Under-23 squad for the 25th South East Asian Games in Laos in December, VFF general secretary Tran Quoc Tuan said.

Reported by Quang Tuyen