After the 25th SEA Games in Laos, the national football team was summoned on December 20 for training in preparation for the Asian Football Cup qualifying round.

The formation of the Vietnamese team has changed remarkably since its last gathering before the match with Syria on November 14. It now has 7 new players from the U23 team, including the four most excellent players Trong Hoang, Thanh Hung, Thanh Luong and Long Giang.

After two weeks of training, the team will play Lebanon at Beirut Municipal on January 6 and fly back to Vietnam to play host to China at My Dinh National Stadium on January 17, 2010.

The Vietnam Football Federation says that it has extended its contract with the head coach for another 4 years until 2013, despite the team’s failure to reach its target (gold medal) at the 25^th SEA Games. Vietnam won the silver medal.

PV