Twenty-five Vietnamese players left for Qatar on December 31 to compete at the 2016 Asian Football Confederation U23 Championship.

The U23 team will have two weeks for training before the tournament kicks off on January 12.

The team will face Yemen on January 4 and Japan three days later at friendly matches.

Coach Toshiya Miura will evaluate the footballers’ performance during these two weeks to make a decision on the official 23-member squad.

In the same group as Australia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, the Japanese coach has targeted Vietnam to advance to the quarter-finals.

The team’s standing at the Qatar tourney, scheduled to run through January 30, is likely to determine Miura’s future in Vietnam.

His contract with the Vietnam Football Federation will be valid until April 2016.