Phan Tuan Tai: 'Coach Troussier deterred players very seriously'

Compared to some of his teammates in the current U23 group of Vietnam, Tuan Tai has a better understanding of the French leader. He used to play as a left-back for the U19 team under Troussier to qualify for the 2020 AFC U19 Championship.

"When he entered the field, he was a completely different person, very strict in the style of deterring players. But off the field, he was very gentle and always close," the Dak Lak defender said before the evening training session 1/ 3.

Yesterday, U23 Vietnam had the first practice session with coach Troussier from 9pm to 10:45pm. In the next two days, the team still maintains this training time frame, even having an additional morning practice session from 10am to 12:30pm. According to Tuan Tai, many players in the current U23 team have worked with a French teacher, so they are not unfamiliar with this type of training schedule. The team eats about three hours before the practice session and then has an extra snack after it's over. Before going to the field, the whole team was given exercises and warmed up in the room. After that, the training session usually took place with high intensity with great pressure from Troussier.

Tuan Tai is among 41 Vietnamese U23 players summoned to the first phase from March 1 to March 7. Coach Troussier and the coaching staff will review and evaluate players, to reduce to 32 players for the next phase. During the first training session, the team was absent from Viettel's full-time defender Nguyen Huu Nam due to injury, while Nam Dinh goalkeeper Tran Liem Dieu did not join the army because of personal matters.

"The whole team is looking forward to the first training session under coach Troussier and is not afraid to get used to the new philosophy," added Tuan Tai.

Before the French leader, the defender in 2001 worked with Coach Park Hang-seo at the 31st SEA Games and coach Gong Oh-kyun at the 2022 AFC U23 Championship. Nham Manh Dung scored the only goal to beat Thailand in the SEA Games final. Then, in the 2022 Asian U23 group stage, Tuan Tai personally hit Thailand with a super goal from the middle of the field in a 2-2 draw.