The men’s national volleyball team will try their best to complete their dreams of gold at the 25th Southeast AsianGames, to be held in Laos next month.

Viet Nam’s highest achievements were a silver medal at the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines in 2005 and the SEA Games 2007 in Thailand.

Instead of embarking on long and gruelling training sessions in China as planned, the team convened in HCM City to train and play some friendly matches with HCM City club, Hoang Long Long An, Army Corps No 4, and Sanest Khanh Hoa in preparation for the Games.

The team’s star athletes include Khanh Hoa’s Ngo Van Kieu, Minh Dung, Van Thanh, and Duy Quang of The Cong and Ninh Binh’s Huu Ha.

Head coach Nguyen Manh Hung said “At present, my students undergoing strenuous training. We have called up Hoang Long Long An’s striker Le Quang Khanh to the team so we have some choices in the attacking line. Khanh is expected to play well together with Kieu in the upcoming Games.”

Kieu, who is 1.96m tall, and the second-ever Vietnamese athlete to play for an overseas club, has recovered from his ankle injury and is expected to play a vital role in any Vietnamese victory.

Viet Nam are in group B alongside Indonesia, Malaysia, and the hosts Laos.

To achieve their dream, Viet Nam will have to overcome SEA Games defending champions Indonesia, Viet Nam’s key rivals at every Games.

Hung said: “Our key rivals at the SEA Games will be Indonesia and Thailand. Thailand have good strength but lack of experience. While Indonesia are the most outstanding team in the region, but we still have a chance of meeting them in the final, where I’m sure my squad will do their best to change the medal’s colour from silver to gold.”

The team, who competed at the Asian Volleyball Championship in September in the Philippines, played in several full domestic tournaments as pre-SEA Games events.

To win gold and further promote volleyball at home and raise standards, training and sports science unit has been established to select the best players for the national team.

PV