Ho Chi Minh City FC sends 18 young talents to Brazil for long-term training

Ho Chi Minh, 8 July, 2025 – Ho Chi Minh City FC has announced an ambitious plan to send 18 young players to Brazil for long-term development as part of a major investment in youth football. The group includes 16 players from the former Juventus Vietnam Academy—now known as BMG Academy—and 2 others from the club’s cooperation program with Lyon (France).

Among the selected players are several who represented the Vietnam U17 national team last year, such as Hoa Xuan Tin and Hong Quang. According to the club’s leadership, the players will not be trained together as a group of 18 but will instead be integrated into appropriate age-level teams based on their individual development stages.

The young Vietnamese talents will train at the prestigious Gremio Academy in Brazil, where they will not only experience professional training environments but also compete in weekly friendlies and numerous youth tournaments across Brazil and South America. These frequent matches will provide valuable exposure and help accelerate their football growth.

Monthly evaluations and progress reports from the Gremio coaching staff will be sent back to Ho Chi Minh City FC, allowing the club to closely monitor the development of its players.

Sending young players to train overseas, particularly in Brazil, is a significant financial commitment. Club officials acknowledged that the cost of overseas training is three to four times higher than domestic development. However, they believe the long-term rewards will be worth the investment.

“Instead of training young players in Vietnam, we have chosen to train them in Brazil, with an estimated annual cost of around VND 30–40 billion,” said a club representative. “We are willing to sacrifice short-term results to build a new generation of players capable of competing at a high level and restoring Ho Chi Minh City’s football legacy in the coming years.”

This move underscores Ho Chi Minh City FC’s strategic vision to invest in youth and take bold steps to revive its competitive stature in Vietnamese football.