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31/12/2020PVF Academy is gradually becoming a guarantee of quality and one of the best hopes for Vietnamese football to reach international level.
A football academy of international stature
On the afternoon of December 28, PVF U15 defeated Viettel U15 in the final to crown the 2020 National U15 Cup. PVF won 4 out of 8 national championships in the year, including: National U15 Championship, National U19 Championship, National U15 Cup and National U17 Cup. This achievement is a testament to the quality of a leading young football academy in Viet Nam.
PVF U15 won the championship. Photo: VFF
In fact, PVF has long been getting many achievements in Vietnam. Over the past 12 years of development, PVF has won 18 championships and 9 times second-place in domestic youth tournaments; 9 championships and 2 times runner-up in international youth competitions. The success in 2020 can be seen as a continuation of thickening the already “huge” achievements. However, it is also special as it ended the duration of 3 years without any cup for PVF after they moved from South to North with a major reform.
There are leading experts who had or have been working for PVF, such as “White Witch Doctor” Philippe Troussier, Technical Director Eric Abrams, or even world-class players as Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes. They collaborate with many top youth coaches in Vietnam such as Hoang Anh Tuan, Nguyen Manh Cuong and Dinh The Nam to complete the training program to develop comprehensive players. The high-ranking staff and a 35-million-USD facility in Hung Yen are the guarantee for a long-term direction from Vingroup with PVF.
The strategy of professional football, developing from the roots is the basis for PVF to train players. The remarkable point in the academy is that they emphasize the education for the players. Hoang Anh Gia Lai also does the same thing, but PVF is an upgrade. It is known that the young players of PVF are arranged in the morning to study at Vinschool, a high-quality international school and practice football training in the afternoon. In addition to education, PVF invites many experts to lecture so that players can approach different social perspectives instead of just revolving around the ball. Said by a manager of PVF, before becoming a player, players need to become a useful people for society and that is the purpose of education with football.
Youth league achievements are just a measure of evaluating the training and competition in each stage. The biggest goal that PVF aims for is to create a generation of enthusiastic, ethical, intellectual and cultural players with world standard in fitness and skills.
V.League, World Cup and world standard
Like many academies, PVF aims to train football talents to become professional football players and towards an international career, further to bring the Vietnamese National Team to the World Cup. But the different is PVF probably be more correct in their way to achieve it.
Thai Ba Dat – the best player of the 2020 National U15 Cup, said after leading PVF U15 to the championship: “My dream is the same as most young players, to dedicate for Vietnamese National Team, and to be able to play abroad”. The young players of PVF are aware of two things, dedicating themselves to the National Team and towards an international career. 10 years ago, the young players of Hoang Anh Gia Lai thought the same way, and now Xuan Truong or Cong Phuong are somewhat recognized.
PVF players are considered to have high development potential, not only with competitive skills but also with life skills to develop in a professional football environment. They are knowledgeable, have a foreign language and are used to living away from home. That is probably to ensure a quality output towards an international career in the future. And in Viet Nam, players from PVF are always in the sights of strong teams in V.League 1 and 2.
Recently, 20 young PVF players born in 2001, 2002 graduated and immediately found a stop in V.League 1 and 2. In which, 8 players were transferred to 2 strong clubs, Da Nang and Sai Gon. But the most special point is that the entire transfer or loan fee will be given by PVF to players’ family. This is a very humane feature from PVF because the training cost per player for nearly 10 years from being recruited to graduating is up to tens of billions of VND. This policy is the recognition and encouragement of players’ efforts during their training in PVF.
In fact, PVF has never thought about how much they can collect from players, including the group of Ha Duc Chinh and Bui Tien Dung, who are already having certain successes. What worth discussing is the difference in the last procedure phase. Previously, PVF transferred the graduates to the club quietly, but now they have graduation ceremony and contract signing in accordance with professional international standards.
VFF Permanent Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan said: “The National Team only has the opportunity to participate in the World Cup when the youth teams must regularly participate and perform well in the continental championships at all ages. To do so, the thing is to ensure a solid foundation, which is to develop youth football and improve the quality of professional tournaments. This is also the main task of Vietnamese football in the current period”.
PVF differs from many youth academies. They only focus on developing players, not participating in the professional football league. When players are free to choose where they want to play, they have more chances, and the World Cup dream is probably closer.