Their senior compatriots lifted the trophy in Shenzhen just under two months ago and for head coach Brad Maloney, that will also be their motivation at Saudi Arabia 2025.
“We’d love to win the tournament, we’re not here to make up the numbers,” said Maloney. “We definitely want to go deep in the tournament and win the trophy.
“It was a great achievement by our Under-20 to win the Asian Cup, the first time our junior Australian team has won a major trophy in Asia. That was fantastic and if we can continue to go deep in tournaments like these, it illustrates that we’re on the right track on development.
“We respect Vietnam. We saw how well they have done in AFF (tournaments) as well as the Qualifiers. We look forward to meeting them. There are no easy matches and we’re in one of the toughest groups with UAE and Japan also here but we are prepared for it.”
Vietnam head coach Cristiano Roland is hoping thorough preparations will enable the team to compete in Group D with a spot in the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 on offer for all quarter-finalists.
“Our preparation process began in March with a training camp in Vietnam, along with friendly matches,” said Roland. “Then, we stayed in Oman for a week and played two friendly matches against Oman U17 before traveling to Saudi Arabia.
“We are in a very strong group. Australia is an opponent with many strengths, and on our part, we need to maintain maximum focus at all times during the match to achieve our goals.
“This is just the beginning of a long journey. We have players with good potential but this is a sport that requires a lot of effort and hard training. The road ahead is long, and there is still a lot of work to be done.”
