Vietnam Futsal: 20 Players, 6 Cuts and a Gamble Named Giustozzi

In the first training session in Nha Trang that I attended, coach Diego Giustozzi didn't say much. He just stood on the touchline, holding the list of 20 names and flipping it over and over. Four goalkeepers. Six young players with limited international caps. And a ticket to AIMAG waiting. I have been following Vietnam's futsal team training sessions long enough to know that, in this sport, the number 20 is not a squad — it is a tryout. Futsal differs from 11-a-side football in one crucial point: official competition squads only allow 14 players. The FIFA Futsal World Cup and AFC Futsal Asian Cup both stipulate this. With 20 players called up, Giustozzi will have to cut at least six names before stepping onto the real pitch. The four friendly matches against Kyrgyzstan and Russia from November 3 to 10 are the only evidence the coaching staff will have. No other tournament. No other official match. Six players will be cut, and they will be cut based on four matches. That is selection pressure at its highest. And it explains why the list includes four goalkeepers: Ho Van Y, Pham Van Tu, Nguyen Quoc Giau and Doan Minh Quang. A 14-man squad normally carries two, at most three goalkeepers. Four is an anomaly. But if you look at age and form, it is not anomalous at all. This is a succession audition for the No.1 position that has existed for too long. I watched Doan Minh Quang play at the 2026 National Futsal Championship. He won the Best Goalkeeper award in the colours of Sahako — a team that finished third. A goalkeeper from a third-placed team winning the highest individual award is a signal of real ability, not reputation. And the fact that Giustozzi called up Quang while retaining Ho Van Y and Pham Van Tu shows he is evaluating by data and form, not by name. That is what I always want to see in a foreign coach. But there is one detail that made me pause. The list includes a goalkeeper born in 2026. If true, this player is just 17 years old. In 11-a-side football, that would be almost impossible. In futsal, it is more feasible — physicality is not as decisive as on a large pitch. But it is still a gamble. And I have two sources with different names for the same person: Nguyen Quoc Giau and Nguyen Van Giau. This discrepancy needs verification before I write anything definitive. In my profession, a wrong name can ruin an entire article. What is more noteworthy is the schedule. Kyrgyzstan on November 3 and 5. Russia on November 8 and 10. This is a deliberately designed opposition curve. Kyrgyzstan is a peer-level opponent — a diagnostic match where Vietnam needs to impose its game and build confidence. Russia is a top-tier global futsal power. And Russia, in the context of being excluded from UEFA and FIFA competitions, is actively seeking friendlies. It is mutual convenience. I have followed Vietnamese futsal long enough to know that facing Russia is the most severe test of fitness and speed. Russian teams play with high intensity, high pressing and continuous transitions. That is the type of opponent Vietnamese futsal often struggles against. But the order of Kyrgyzstan first, Russia second is a sound arrangement: build belief first, then stress. If reversed, it could be a psychological disaster. There is one thing the original article does not say, but I can infer from experience: Giustozzi's network may be the factor that helped Vietnam secure the match against Russia. A coach who won the world title in 2026 with Argentina can access opponents that the VFF's diplomatic channel would struggle to reach. And Russia, in its current competitive isolation, needs opponents. Mutual convenience. It is a hypothesis, but it has basis. The biggest problem for the team right now is not in attack. It is the absence of captain Nguyen Manh Dung. A ligament injury at the national championship means he cannot be present. In futsal, the captain is typically the fixo or ala — the one who sets the rotation tempo and the height of the defensive line. Losing him is not just losing a name. Losing him is losing an organisational axis. And the replacement will have to be found within this camp, with no official match to test. Alongside that, Dinh Cong Vien — a winger with a recurring injury — is also absent. Trieu Xuan Linh is called up in his place. It is a like-for-like positional replacement, but the word "recurring" is the key. A recurring injury is not a one-off accident. It is a sign of chronic load intolerance. And in a short concentrated tournament, that means risk is always present. I have written about talents buried under contemptuous glances. And in this list of 20, there are six young outfield players with very limited national-team caps. They are the ones being tested. Four friendlies are all they have to prove themselves. And if they fail, they will be cut. That is the law of elite sport, but it is also where forgotten stories begin. Financially, there is nothing to analyse from the original article. But there is a noteworthy structural reality: in Vietnamese futsal, clubs bear the cost of releasing players for the national team, provinces bear the cost of the National Sports Festival, and the federation captures the sporting upside. This misalignment is the source of potential conflicts. And it is particularly clear from November 20 to 29, when the National Sports Festival takes place in Ho Chi Minh City — right after the players return from AIMAG. Provinces typically pay medal bonuses at the Festival. Players returning to their localities have a direct financial incentive to play — and to play hard — just eleven days before an international tournament. It is a conflict of interest that no one mentions, but it exists. And it could affect the players' physical condition when they enter the AIMAG campaign. There is one thing I always believe: tactics will become obsolete, but stories about belief will not. Giustozzi is building a rejuvenated team, with players selected on form and data. That is the right direction. But it is also a gamble. Four friendlies. Six cuts. One absent captain. And a tournament where expectations may exceed reality. In the silence of the empty stands, data whispered things no one expected. And in the silence of the first training session, I heard the sound of 20 people trying not to be cut. That is the sound of a tryout. And it is always the saddest sound in sport. But if Giustozzi is right — if he can find the six right names from these 20 people — then Vietnam's futsal team can enter AIMAG with a squad that is not the strongest in reputation, but the strongest at the moment. And in futsal, timing is everything. There are World Cup nights when I understand that: football does not belong to the winning team. It belongs to those who dare to change before they are forced to change. Giustozzi is changing. And the four friendlies ahead will tell us whether that change is timely.