Saigon will soon become home to the first Juventus Academy in Southeast Asia.
Yesterday, Carlo Mastellon, Juventus area manager for Asia, arrived in the city to officially launch the Juventus Academy Ho Chi Minh City project, as reported by Tuoi Tre. The legendary Series A football club reached an agreement with Vietnamese sports marketing company Strata to find a suitable local business or professional football club to partner in the establishment of the academy.
The academy will focus on players age five to 16 at the school, community, and professional level. The school aims to “share the values and methods synonymous with Juventus beyond the Italian border … [and] allow young boys and girls from all over the world to access professional training methods validated by the club’s experience of organizing similar initiatives in Italy,” according to the official team website.
The academies rely on local and international coaches including periodic visits from coaches trained in the club’s hometown, Turin. There are now more than 45 Turin academies across six continents, but this will be the first in Southeast Asia.
Juventus is one the oldest and most accomplished football clubs in the world. Founded in 1897 by Turin students, it has gone on to be the first team to win all three competitions organized by the Union of European Football Associations: the European Champions' Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup. Its past players include Italian legend Del Piero, who scored 209 goals in his career, as well as Claudio Marchisio, Tommaso Rocchi, and Paolo Rossi.
The Juventus Academy will join a growing list of similar young football training centers throughout Vietnam, such as Hoang Anh Gia Lai Academy and Viettel Academy. In June 2017 Premier League heavyweights, Arsenal opened an academy and recently Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs was named Director of Football at the Vingroup-owned PVF Football Academy in Hung Yen province.
These football academies help produce some of the nation’s best players that often join Vietnam’s national squads, including the U-23 team that recently captured Vietnam’s hearts with their stunning performance in the AFC U-23 Cup.
[Photo via Tuoi Tre]
