Coach Goetz to decide on final Games team

HCM CITY — Coach Falko Goetz has left out three players from the U23 men's football team which began the final training camp in HCM City yesterday before leaving for the South-east Asian Games in Indonesia next month.

Defenders Nguyen Tan Cong, Pham Van Nam and Tran Tan Dat, did not get the German's nod after playing in the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) Cup last week.

None of them played in any of the matches in the VFF Cup though Nam and Dat were with the team since the first training camp in September for the international tournament in HCM City.

Goetz will have to drop two more out of the 23 players at the camp before the team leaves for Jakarta on October 31 in quest of the gold medal that has eluded them since 1995 despite reaching the final five times.

The team will stay at the Sultan Hotel Jakarta, Indonesia's largest five-star hotel.

A semi-final berth is almost guaranteed for Viet Nam since they are drawn in an easy group with the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, and Brunei. — VNS